It was fairly obvious but a recent event in a school in the north of England highlighted the need for educational facilities to think about upgrading their CCTV systems to much higher quality HDcctv. The event was a common one but when a fight broke out between two year 11 boys the consequences were very serious. One of the boys was left seriously hurt and this is where CCTV could and should have been able to provide evidence to ensure those responsible were punished properly.
The problem was that as the two boys exchanged blows several others tried to intervene. When the boy was hit with the blow that caused him to fall and strike his head on the playground tarmac there were several individuals in the footage. On review the images were poor. The recorded frame rate was only 3 images per second and this led to in-conclusive evidence as to who out of the individuals who were involved in the fracas actually landed the blow.
On interrogation all the boys denied they had landed a punch. The images were reviewed by the staff who concluded they were fairly useless as evidence. What therefore is the point of CCTV that simply will not do the job required? When the school reviewed why they had chosen the CCTV system they had, it was discovered that it had been decided on cost. They were able to review the specifications that had been offered and found that the system chosen had been 49% cheaper than the most expensive system on offer. This system had included HD cameras that were properly specified to record at a higher frame rate and give much higher quality images.
CCTV is a deterrent but it must also work when it is needed. If you are a school or college, insist that your CCTV system is of an acceptable standard. Either that or don’t install one at all. People are learning the hard way that buying cheap is quite simply a complete waste of money, whereas those who spend wisely and insist on high quality HD cameras and recorders will reap the benefits over time.
A simple lesson but one that should be heeded.