Leeds to benefit from £1.8m CCTV system

Story link: Leeds to benefit from £1.8m CCTV system by Jan Harris

East North East Homes Leeds and Innovation Leeds are investing £1.8 million to expand a CCTV system to cover some of the most deprived areas of Leeds.

The system will cover 53 residential tower blocks and sheltered housing schemes in the east of Leeds, as part of efforts to reduce anti-social behaviour and improve the quality of life for residents.

The first phase of the system comprises 500 remotely controlled cameras, which should all be in operation by late summer.

The system uses an innovative wireless network and will be monitored from a control room which will be linked to emergency services, safety wardens and council workers.

It will be extended to cover the whole of the East North East Homes Leeds area, which comprises around one third of the city.

The system provides flexibility over where cameras are situated and how it is operated. As it is a digital system, resident’s privacy can be protected by electronically masking areas such as windows to prevent images being captured from these areas.

It includes both fixed cameras and mobile cameras which can be deployed to problem areas.