OVERVIEW
As a fire and rescue service, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s main responsibilities are not limited to firefighting. They also respond to a wide range of incidents. As well as responding locally, they are called to help on either a national or international level with their Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and International Search and Rescue (ISAR) teams.
LFRS work closely with other emergency services and local authority partners to deliver an emergency response and protect the communities. They carry out an enforcement role to ensure members of the public are safe and businesses are operating in a safe and legal manner.
THE REQUIREMENTS
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service wished to install a new vehicle CCTV solution in its response vehicles. Some of the existing fleet already had a legacy CCTV solution that no longer met the requirements of LFRS, while other vehicles had no CCTV solution installed.
The requirements were clear:
- To improve the quality of the CCTV recordings through improved resolution and enhanced low light capability.
- To increase the area covered around the fire appliance to eliminate any blind spots.
- To allow remote access via wi-fi to the fire appliance for the collection of recorded footage and also for future use, live streaming of images via 4g mobile broadband.
- To assist in firefighter safety.
- To support LFRS in the compliance with Data Protection & GDPR regulations.
- To install and configure and test all elements of the Solution to LFRS’s satisfaction.
- To provide suitable training for relevant users of the Solution.
THE SOLUTION
In line with LFRS’s requirements, Exeros proposed a full 360-degree coverage offering secure Wi-Fi download capability. The cameras chosen view 120 degrees from their point of fixing and Exeros recommended adjusting to provide up to 180 degree viewing with alternative lenses, in order to completely eliminate all flank blind spots where vulnerable road users my come into proximity of the vehicles.
Considering the importance of high-quality data capture, Exeros suggested that data is predominantly stored on the Mobile DVR system 2TB HDD in each HDD, giving approximately 30 days of video recording in each vehicle depending on usage. The servers would then remotely interrogate those remote drives via either Wi-Fi, 3G/4G, or HDD removal.
For safety and data protection purposes, The MDVR also came installed with an in-built Wi-Fi module that utilises a secure connection to the local station access point (AP). The hard drive was secured and locked into place by a lockable key whilst still easy to remove. Moreover, the TrackEye system proposed only powers on when the vehicle ignition is activated and will run uninterrupted whilst the vehicle is in operation.
THE RESULTS
“Following the installation of the Exeros CCTV solution we are now able to capture, record and access – when required – high definition video to support the needs of the service. The quality of the video has proved to be invaluable in various scenarios, including the use for evidential purposes and incident investigation. From our initial pre-installation meeting we have had an excellent working partnership with Exeros and their expertise in this area has helped us to refine our requirements and ultimately deliver an excellent solution.”- Roger Smith, Project Manager.
“Exeros’s flexibility in working with us when installing their system helped us to keep our fleet fully available. The system allows us to capture excellent quality video that is critical for our use. ”- Michael Rogers, Group Manager.
