Member Article

CCTV can bring order to the border

Britain has announced new measures to clamp down on illegal immigrants who make it across the Channel, and the Government has pledged extra funds for CCTV. Gary Trotter, co-founder of Sunderland-based security specialists, Hadrian Technology, believes CCTV can help bring order to the border.

“We’ve all seen disturbing images on the news of suspected illegal immigrants attempting to get into Britain, while many people have been unlucky enough get caught up in delays and gridlock caused by the migration crisis at the Channel Tunnel.

Seeing thousands of lorries queuing on the M20 after all the disruption was a worrying sight. Unless this issue is tackled effectively, it is not going to be a problem that affects only the South East of England; it will have a serious impact on every part of the country and potentially be very damaging for many businesses.

It was encouraging to see the Government announce £7m in extra funds to help police at the border and secure key sections of the site. A lot of that money has been earmarked for CCTV cameras, and that will be an extremely effective way of bringing control to our borders.

Hadrian Technology, and anyone else operating in the CCTV field, have greatly welcomed this development and we are pleased to see this technology being identified as a top priority to try to bring order at the Channel Tunnel.

The advantages of CCTV in these circumstances are massive. The images will give security officials and police a bigger field of view, more coverage, along with better monitoring and analysis.

By constantly focusing on new ways to innovate and grow, companies like ourselves have used pioneering technologies to develop CCTV with analytics that offer the highest quality images possible.

We take the best camera and combine it with the best software so a CCTV system becomes a one-stop shop that manages itself, which is what this type of challenging situation at our ports is calling for.

Crystal clear images will help to make monitoring and detection much easier at the border – a benefit that will hopefully act as a deterrent to migrants attempting to come into the country, as well as giving police and security officials a faster response time.

Security personnel will be able to monitor incidents, react quickly and advance to flashpoints in Calais and Coquelles, where migrants are attempting to smuggle their way over the border. Thermal imaging on cameras, combined with analytics in the software, allow the CCTV operator or police to respond far more quickly to incidents as they are about to occur, rather than having to react after migrants have breached security fences.

It has also been revealed that sales of CCTV systems for lorries have risen by 400 per cent since the Calais migrant issue began. This will help companies who want to secure their goods and protect their staff, as well as their reputation in the process.

Using CCTV technology will have a tremendous impact in tightening up security and helping to catch migrants attempting to make their way into the country illegally, but it is important to stress that this is also about saving lives.

There are many benefits of using a CCTV camera. The biggest advantage of installing cameras at the Channel Tunnel will be the deterrent to migrants attempting to board lorries. If they know they are being monitored and will be caught as they attempt to stow away on vehicles, they will think twice. Prevention is always better than a cure - something we always impress on potential clients in retail, leisure and commercial sectors.

Through our expertise in dealing with large industrial environments, being able to manage the whole site is key to solving this issue.

Migrants are using smart phones to update each other and “spotters” are on hand to target vulnerable HGVs and establish where police are located. Having a network of CCTV cameras would remove this problem as they would locate where stowaways are congregating.

Our experience of crime prevention and public protection would suggest that, once security is stepped up in Calais, it will be only a matter of time before the migrant problem is transferred to other sites, so it is vitally important other ports start looking at tightening up security in advance.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Joanna Graham .