Surveillance of London

"...On Monday the chief of anti-terrorist department of Scotland Yard, Peter Clarke, informed that the CCTV recordings from central London showed that all the suicide bombers arrived at the King's Cross station on Thursday, at 8.30, about 20 minutes before the explosions in three underground trains..."

London is probably the best protected city in the world. It draws from history that had forced the British government to fight IRA terrorism a few dozens of years earlier before similar phenomena emerged in other countries. The density of cameras in the city is hard to imagine for someone coming from other European capitals, not to mention other cities. The best guarded places include train and bus stations, underground, governmental buildings and national monuments. It is common to install cameras in clearly visible places, both to scare off potential offenders and protect the cameras against attempts of destroying. Of course, there are also lots of hidden (spy) cameras, working, among others, as protecting devices for the main equipment. Everyone can see numerous posters, boards or plates informing about surveillance and possible consequences arising form the use of evidence such as recorded video. The priority of surveillance over aesthetics of facades seems to be obvious.

We hope that the pictures showing fragments of installations may be useful for CCTV designers and installers, as well as the contracting parties. They allow to see installation methods, locations of cameras, the devices used - just watch how they do it!.

Underground, railway stations

CCTV camera at Victoria Station. Cameras at underground platform, rotating camera in the foreground.

Camera monitoring underground passage and set of cameras watching the station's surroundings.

All underground escalators are watched. The surveillance center at one of the underground stations.

Information about surveillance system is an important deterring means. Engine driver can observe the platform on several monitors.

Camera cables must be well protected, e.g. by steel tubes. One of the most popular camera housings used in underground.

Long and dark passages need to be well illuminated; the camera needs to be installed on pan-tilt unit (rotator).

Railway station. An interesting housing with two cameras inside. They operate in opposite directions.

Government buildings, historical monuments, public places

Outdoor surveillance of the British Museum.

Surveillance of one of diplomatic missions. To protect the post, they didn't hesitate to ruin the outlook of the estate.

Kensington Palace is guarded, outside the entrance to the gardens, by cameras with IR illuminators. Saint Paul's Cathedral surroundings - the camera installed in housing with wiper and IR illuminator.

An interesting way of installing PTZ camera - it monitors two walls. Battery of cameras in front of the Parliament building.

One of the cameras installed on the facade of the Parliament building - a lot of cameras are intentionally installed for effect. Set of cameras in front of Parliament, equipped with IR illuminators.

Four cameras on one mast - in front of Parliament building. Safety is highest priority, even if it is needed to install camera in little functional for apartments owner place.

The British Crown Jewels in Tower of London must be well-guarded. The camera monitoring gardens side entrance - the Hampton Court Palace.

Information about surveillance. One of the very important parts of CCTV surveillance system, about which the contracting parties often forget, is information that the area is monitored. The information may deter potential offenders from criminal activity.
It has to be emphasized that this kind of information does not help to protect the monitoring system against destroying the devices or cabling. The basic rule is that each camera should be monitored by another camera and the cabling has to be concealed or heavily protected. In case of low budget (too few cameras), it is important to locate the cameras in hardly accessible places and protect them mechanically.