Sony CCTV security solution helps Westminster police battle street crime

The West End's crackdown on street crime gets a state-of-the-art boost today with the launch of Westminster police's first mobile CCTV unit.

Police in Westminster, in partnership with Covent Garden London, Sony and First Security have invested £150,000 to equip a converted Mercedes van with all the latest in closed circuit television, cameras, recording equipment and LCD screens to more effectively monitor street crime.

Commander Simon Bray, the head of Police in Westminster, unveiled the dedicated CCTV vehicle in Covent Garden, one of London's most vibrant shopping and leisure destinations.

The vehicle offers 360-degree coverage through a number of sophisticated cameras and synchronised recording equipment. This will provide very high-quality images providing crucial assistance to investigations and future prosecutions.

It is the first CCTV mobile unit owned and operated by police in Westminster that can be deployed to critical and serious incidents by officers 24-7. The ability to deploy the vehicle rapidly will enable officers to obtain footage of incidents as they occur and to quickly identify people involved or leaving the vicinity.

Whilst deployed to major incidents, it also has the capacity to be used as a "command centre" for senior officers to coordinate police activity at the scene.

As well as being mobilised fast time to incidents, the vehicle will be deployed to areas where crime happens. Images can be recorded for up to 12 hours at a time and retrieved instantly from a hard drive.