Scottish CCTV Pilot Hailed A Success

A CCTV surveillance scheme in Scotland which was piloted in the hope of cutting down and dealing with hoax calls to emergency services has been given the thumbs up.

The pilot initially ran for a period of 6 months, and was such as success that the scheme will now be made permanent.

Control room operators for the fire service were able to view live footage many areas, which helped them to determine whether or not individual calls were legitimate. In addition to this, the CCTV surveillance equipment which beamed back the images also helped to slash the number of attacks on firefighters- by allowing operators to see whether suspicious looking individuals were in the area and by alerting police if necessary.

The scheme went live last Bonfire Night- with Bonfire Night being the worst night for assaults on the fire service. Disgustingly, over the course of a year, nearly 300 attacks on the emergency services were logged in the Lothian and Borders region- although thankfully the CCTV surveillance equipment is going some way in bringing these figures down.

David Mallin of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service explained the scheme, and said:

“Access to images of live incidents from CCTV allows control room staff to see incidents before crews arrive and warn them of potential dangers.

“This is a new and innovative move by managers to help eliminate senseless attacks on firefighters completely and to identify and take action against the perpetrators wherever possible.”

Although the scheme has been a success, it really is a sign of the times when surveillance equipment is needed to protect the emergency services.

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