ANPR camera network protects London’s tourist attractions

The terrorism threat for London and its tourist attractions is anticipated to be significant during the summer. The police and military are primed for the biggest security operation since the Second World War and the government and armed forces are also turning to technology to detect potential threats on the capital’s roads.

Part of the security precautions being taken is video analysis and one of the major systems used by the Metropolitan Police is a network of 350 cameras, affectionately know as the Ring of Steel. Installed and managed by NDI-RS, an ANPR system specialist, this that monitors both the Square Mile financial district and the Government Security Zone, which includes both the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

The Ring of Steel is also being extended and NDI-RS has worked closely with a number of London boroughs, such as Hackney and City of London, this year; deploying a camera network based on the company’s NDI-RS-C320 cameras to monitor these new routes.

 At the heart of NDI-RS’s cameras systems are two high resolution Sony FCB block cameras, these output images to the Metropolitan Police in both infrared – for ANPR capture – and colour – for evidential overview imaging.

Images from the cameras are sent to the Metropolitan Police data centre at New Scotland Yard, which runs the NDI-RS’ TALON ANPR software and the resulting data is compared with a number of databases – including police, customs, DVLA and border agencies - to detect potential threats, as well as stolen, uninsured or untaxed vehicles. 

Ian Roberts of NDI-RS, and formerly the Metropolitan Police, said: “The Ring of Steel has been in operation for approximately 15 years and we’ve constantly upgraded its hardware to exploit improvements in sensor technology as image quality is vital in such mission critical situations.”

Stéphane Clauss, of Sony Europe’s Image Sensing Solutions division said: “There has been a rapid increase in complexity of automatic analysis software during recent years and to get great data out, you need exceptional image quality. We’ve therefore worked closely with the sensor division at Sony to get the best possible image for our customers.”

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