Kings is crowned as first mover in cloud CCTV using Facewatch
Kings Security Ltd, the award winning National Fire & Security Services business, has become the first to enable its monitoring centre to use the Facewatch crime reporting and communications system on behalf of its business partners.
Kings’ NSI Gold approved alarm receiving centre and remote video receiving centre will use the Facewatch system to provide online and real-time reporting of incidents, including CCTV and still images, directly to the police on behalf of their clients, saving customer facing frontline staff valuable time and effort.
Older standalone CCTV recording devices are notoriously difficult to manage. When needed to provide crucial evidence, they require staff to transfer the relevant footage to disc which is then collected by police officers who have to trawl through hours of CCTV before being able even start on solving the crimes.
By using the Facewatch system, professional control room operators will be able to provide a cost- effective solution for their customers that produces faster and higher quality results.
Facewatch improves the way evidence, including moving CCTV footage, is managed thereby providing a compelling reason for businesses to move to professional monitoring services provided by separate control centres.
Anthony King, Managing Director, Kings Security Systems said:
“The appropriate use of technology has always been a priority at Kings. It enables our team to provide the very best service to customers and ensure we always provide high quality evidence to the police. The Facewatch system has been proven to provide an additional deterrent to low level criminal activity and to help the police follow up and convict more criminals. We are pleased to be the first to offer this unique solution directly to our business partners and will be using Facewatch in our control room to enhance our fully integrated monitoring and reporting service.
“I believe this is an important step in making the use of CCTV more effective and professional. Facewatch’s network, combined with a cloud based CCTV offering, will enable previously unconnected CCTV systems dotted around business premises around the UK to be networked and managed by professionals rather than by thousands of individuals with varying levels of experience in using CCTV for evidential purposes.”
Simon Burgess, Managing Director, Facewatch Ltd said:
“We are extremely pleased to be working with Kings who provide monitoring for some of the biggest businesses in the UK. Facewatch continues to develop its technology and this offering for control rooms has been developed especially to meet the high professional standards of a busy control room where multiple incidents are being managed in real-time. Facewatch provides the final link in the chain for security services providers by ensuring the police are provided with fast, and high quality evidence.”
Editors Notes:
The Facewatch system provides secure connections via the internet with instant messaging capability between the control room, businesses and the police, ensuring that crucial CCTV evidence, and the full evidential pack, is available online immediately. The information is managed by security professionals and police throughout the sequence of events from the initial recording and reporting of the incident right through to the court appearance.
Facewatch added value for security services providers includes:
- Facewatch saves police and businesses time and money by streamlining the reporting and sharing of information and intelligence.
- Business premises can simply call the monitoring station (instead of the police) who will handle all aspects of crime reporting and provide an instant Facewatch crime reference
- Moment of crime CCTV evidence is made available via Facewatch in a standard format
- Control room staff, business owners and police are able to communicate over the secure Facewatch network to verify and confirm details of witness statements and incident reports
- CCTV evidence is stored securely online and can be accessed through any device, including mobiles, subject to strict authorisation levels
- Victims are updated on progress of an incident automatically through the Facewatch system
- Trained staff manage CCTV evidence ensuring quality and compliance at all times.
Personal theft, shoplifting and other low level crimes such as vandalism are expensive problems for business owners and the public. Facewatch is a proven internet based system which, by empowering business owners to work in partnership with the police, allows crimes to be reported quicker, with the correct evidential information and witness statements, enabling the police to start investigations immediately and enabling the business owner to proactively help the victim.
Facewatch benefits:
• Online crime reporting using any device with an internet browser
• No special equipment required – a computer with broadband access is all you need
• Works with any existing CCTV system or even without CCTV for reporting only
• Perfect for shops, licensed premises, hotels and all CCTV monitored premises
• Image sharing in groups such as Pubwatches, Shopwatches, BIDs, shopping centres, high streets, retail chains and larger retail groups
• Direct link to local police forces and appropriate officers – police update the crime status throughout the investigation and can use the system for secure messaging between the business and case officers which remains on the case file
• Creation of posters showing images of banned or suspect persons for use by staff
• Full statistical analysis with key performance indicators showing police status and success rates in solving the crimes
• Fully supported by the police and the only system to be accredited by ACPO ‘Secured by Design’.
• Creation of full evidential pack including automatic witness statements and crime reference online by the business user
• Free cancellation of victim’s credit and debit cards
• Victim and business updated by police on progress of crime investigation by email
Endorsements:
Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, Metropolitan Police Service
“Excellent technology for fighting crime, reducing bureaucracy and saving time”.
Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers,
“I am pleased to support Facewatch for its practical use of technology in the fight to combat crime. The system is a catalyst for businesses and police to join together; a great example of citizens and communities getting involved alongside the police”.
Michael Laurie, Crimestoppers’ Chief Executive
“This is an exciting opportunity to further develop Crimestoppers’ range of services for the public in providing them with an anonymous route to pass on information about crime as well as an opportunity to embrace the business community. Facewatch not only gives us access to the very latest database and mobile technology but will also enable us to further empower individuals and communities in the fight against crime. The partnership of Facewatch and Crimestoppers with the support of Chiefs of Police creates a world leading example of public and private sector co-operation”.
Facewatch systems accreditations:
ISO 9001
ACPO – Secured by design (Association of chief Police officers)
Fully data protection compliant
Facewatch Q&A
What is Facewatch?
Facewatch is the first online crime reporting and communications system using social media and mobile tools to enable the public, businesses and the police to work together to beat crime.
What makes Facewatch different and unique?
Facewatch provides a single cloud based resource that enables suspects’ images, moving CCTV evidence and paperless automated witness statements to be uploaded by businesses to the police through one simple interface via any internet connected device. This open system approach gives businesses, the public and the police an open but highly secure platform to enable faster and more effective crime management and communications.
What success has Facewatch currently had?
Facewatch is the only system to have been awarded gained the 'Approved Secured by Design' status. Secured by Design is the official UK Police flagship initiative supporting the principles of 'designing out crime'.
Facewatch was launched in early 2010 and is fully operational in London; it has 6,000 current business users. The system is in the process of being rolled out to all police forces across the UK.
What other products have been developed by the organisation?
Facewatch launched a mobile phone App (Facewatch ID) in partnership with the MET police and British Transport Police in June 2012 to enable the public to identify images of suspects by postcode in the London area. There have been over 63,000 downloads of the App and 8m image views already with hundreds of ID's. The App is now being made available to all Police forces and has recently been launched in Surrey and Northampton.
A communications portal to enable London Hotels to share security information during the Olympic Games was successfully launched and is now an established resource for the London Hotel community. Facewatch will be used as part of the Olympic communictions hub legacy strategy for all sectors across the UK.
What changes does Facewatch make to society?
Trials in London have shown that Facewatch acts as a strong deterrent to low level crime. Police are able to view CCTV evidence instantly and information can be shared between businesses instantly. Police will save hundreds of millions of pounds of wasted administrative time so they can concentrate on catching and prosecuting offenders.
At its heart Facewatch creates online communities that work together to improve our safety and security.
What are the next steps?
Facewatch continues to develop crime reporting solutions using the most appropriate technology and will be announcing further new products in the UK and the USA.
Facewatch
For more information please contact:
Simon Gordon, Facewatch Chairman
Email@ Simon@facewatch.co.uk
Mob: 07824 440265
Office: 020 7930 3225
Stuart Greenfield – PR Consultant
Email: stuart@greenfield.co.uk
T: 07788 662697
Website: www.facewatch.co.uk
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