Vandalism and graffiti account for the majority of individual criminal incidents within the school environment – but reports of incidents decreasing by up to 90% are common where CCTV cameras have been installed.

The annual cost of vandalism has been slashed from £42,000 to less than £1,000 in five years at a Dene Community School of Technology in Peterlee thanks to a sophisticated CCTV system installed by Halon Bank.

Elaine Hamilton, Head Teacher at the School, was so delighted with the results that she invited over 20 local head teachers to the school to witness the success story for themselves.

The existing basic pan/tilt/zoom CCTV was upgraded to a sophisticated high-speed colour system with fast response dome cameras which are able to detect movement and turn through 360 degrees in seconds. Specific potential 'trouble spots' can be monitored by staff, for example during lunch and other break times, while wider areas are monitored on video tape around the clock.

Halon Bank worked with the school to come up with the best, cost-effective options for them, and over the years have maintained the liaison and advised on upgrades. The school now has the latest technology and the benefits are clearly borne out by the results achieved.

It’s one thing to detect the crime, but schools also need to be able to issue a response and call the police. Halon Bank offers a remote video response service (RVR) where a CCTV monitoring centre is on hand 24 hours a day. This centre will respond to an alarm activation confirmed by positive CCTV detection, and then take necessary action, whether that be alerting the key-holder or emergency services. CCTV has had much success in securing convictions and thus deterring re-offence.

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