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Greater Manchester Police's new control room is an instant success
Greater Manchester Police’s brand new CCTV control room was put through its paces for the first time during Operation Protector: to safeguard the annual Labour Party Conference.
CNL, a global developer of Command and Control software, provided their IPSecurityCenter software to power the CCTV distribution and management elements within the new control room. With over 15,000 delegates, including the Prime Minister and many other high-profile MPs, global leaders and speakers maintaining high-levels of security was crucial to the success of the conference.
Colin Carey, Assistant IT Director at Greater Manchester Police said “As they say, preparation is everything; although the event only lasted a few days, it took months of planning. The first challenge was to ensure we had the right infrastructure in place. We worked closely with BT to ensure the best possible network, to deliver the high volumes of video required.
“The next step was to utilise the best software to effectively integrate the many disparate video systems already in place including mobile video, Hele-Tele, fixed wing and CCTV from public space, stations and airports. Again BT was able to assist, introducing us to CNL and their IPSecurityCenter. This software is able to manage the copious amount of visual data, enabling us to provide the highest level of security possible by distributing data and video, wherever and whenever required.”
During the conference the new control room was visited by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Greater Manchester Police's new Chief Constable Peter Fahy who were all impressed with the new facility.
The control room allowed officers to effectively police all aspects of the conference 24 hours a day, covering all of Greater Manchester; it is one of the most advanced command and control facility in the UK. In the future, it will enable Greater Manchester Police and other partner agencies to effectively deal with large scale events or major incidents and improve the force's ability to protect the public and fight crime.
