More bus stops to get CCTV

In an effort to improve passenger safety, particularly for women, 15 more bus shelters across London are having CCTV installed. The change is targeting multiple areas – from spots with high crime rates, to quieter areas, or locations where people have reportedly felt unsafe, the objective being to assess how effective CCTV is as a security measure for passengers.

A trial of 12 months is expected to provide enough data to drive future installations, depending on the success of the initial set.

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Accessibility

Police are able to monitor these cameras live, or review captured footage, which is kept for 31 days. By law, anyone captured in CCTV footage is able to request the footage personally, allowing for crimes to be reported more easily.

These laws are slightly different depending on whether they’re for homes or business, but are fully worth researching if you wish to implement the same safety measures for yourself. You can find services for CCTV installation Cheltenham online, such as APM Fire and Security.

The selected bus stops for these CCTV systems cover a wide range of city spots: Westminster, Croydon, Brent, Hillingdon, Newham, Lambeth, Redbridge, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest. In covering such a diverse array of bus stops, the aim is to get a variety of useful data from which future installments can be planned.

Hopes going forward

This entire scheme originated in a pledge by the Mayor of London to improve the safety of girls and women in the city. Much of the research done by London Travel Watch found that women felt very unsafe waiting for buses, and so measures are being taken to resolve this.

Not only does the threat of a camera recording each action deter potential threats, but it can enable perpetrators to be tracked down more easily. This provides multiple layers of reassurance to girls and women travelling by bus, although we’ll have to wait and see just how effective the system is as a deterrent.

The Mayor plans to take further action, but this is a positive first step in the right direction.