London council partners with Genetec and North to unify three separate, ageing systems used to monitor public spaces and housing estates.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has undertaken a major upgrade of its CCTV security infrastructure. The borough has a resident population of 180,000 within 16km2, an attracts millions of visitors to venues such as Eventim Apollo, Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Westfield London, and professional football clubs Chelsea, Fulham and Queen’s Park. CCTV is, of course, a key factor in ensuring the safety of such venues.
Hammersmith Bridge, photo by Hao Dong / Unsplash
However, the council’s CCTV network was fragmented across three platforms, resulting in duplicated effort, inconsistent service quality and rising maintenance costs. The system also hindered collaboration with partners such as the Metropolitan Police and neighbouring boroughs.
In 2021, the council joined forces with Genetec and North to address the issues, modernise the CCTV infrastructure, streamline operations and improve long-term value. Some £4.5m of investment was secured to support the work.
Through the project, the council has now brought almost all its CCTV cameras into Genetec Security Center, a scalable platform that integrates public space CCTV, IoT sensors and advanced analytics. That now serves the council’s crime-fighting services such as the law enforcement team, gangs unit and dedicated Violence against Women and Girls prevention team.
The new system also supports the phased adoption of AI and intelligent analytics. The hope is that by reducing reliance on operator time the council can focus on smarter ways to identify and respond to incidents as they happen.
An important factor in the upgrade is that the council can now choose the best camera and/or IoT sensor for each location or scenario, rather than being locked into a single supplier. That flexibility boosts performance and ensures value for money.
As a result of the new system, the borough has seen a 10% reduction in offences year or year, with a 44% reduction in knife crime, 35% reduction in robbery, 30% reduction in burglary and 29% drop in theft from motor vehicles.
What’s more, the ability to monitor more cameras using the same number of operators means that the council has begun to offer monitoring services to neighbouring boroughs, generating revenue and helping fund further control room upgrades.
The next phase of the project will focus on making greater use of Genetec advanced modules to expand monitoring capabilities and scale technology in line with the organisation’s needs. The team will also explore the opportunities presented by AI.
Andrew Foster, Managing Director Public Services at North, says: ‘Local government is facing a perfect storm. Rising costs, combined with a reduction in spending power, mean councils have some tough decisions to make. Technology has a huge role to play in making operations more efficient.’
Neil Thurlow, Assistant Director Community Safety, Resilience and CCTV at Hammersmith & Fulham Council, adds: ‘We’ve worked together to explore upgrades to technology and shared service partnerships with neighbouring boroughs, including Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. Not only does this approach allow us greater ability to cost-effectively invest in our own CCTV network, it also helps the Met Police respond to crime and antisocial behaviour reports that occur in the wider west London area. That has enabled us to improve safety and ensure better outcomes for residents.’
Ben Durrant, Account Executive State & Local Public Admin at Genetec, says: ‘Our solution allows the smart integration of multiple systems, such as AI, IoT devices, and analytic centres into a single unified platform. This gives Hammersmith & Fulham Council the flexibility and functionality that’s essential to deliver their desired outcomes and create safer public spaces.’
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