The Metropolitan Police’s own ‘Latest crime figures for London’ website presents a very mixed picture for levels of crime in the capital. Recently released figures cover the time period twelve months to January 2012 compared to twelve months to January 2011 and show reassuring drops in the levels of some of the most serious forms of crime. Homicide is down by 18.1% and gun crime down by 17.6%, there are also commendable falls in the levels of crimes such as violence against the person and domestic crime.

Unfortunately the picture for burglary is not so good. London has seen increases in the levels of both major categories of burglary across many of the boroughs. Total reported burglaries for the twelve month period to January 2012 stood at 96,045, an increase of 3.7% on the previous twelve months. For residential burglaries the overall increase was even worse, standing at 5.5% with a total of 63,473 crimes.

In response to increasing burglaries in London the Metropolitan Police has re launched Operation Bumblebee. A key element in this operation is to try to educate the population on what they can do themselves to protect their homes and businesses from the threat of being burgled. To this end a list of ten top tips has been developed by security experts and included in that list is the tip ‘install a visible burglar alarm’.

It is important that the burglar alarm is visible because burglary is generally an opportunistic crime and the burglar will always seek the easiest target available with the least number of obstacles in the way to entry.  Another important factor in properly protecting your home or business is to have a burglar alarm system designed and installed by a professional, reputable and approved security company.

There are a range of options available for installing an effective burglar alarm in your home or business premises dependent on your budget and security requirements. The most basic burglar alarm systems usually comprise of a control panel with keypad for operation, detection devices to activate the alarm and an audible means of warning. More sophisticated systems can utilise dual technology motion sensors combining infrared and microwave technologies. A professional security installation company will be able to give you the advice you need to pick the right system for you.

The last few years have seen a considerable debate as to the increased usage of CCTV surveillance in the UK. Leicester City Council alone uses 2,083 CCTV cameras to monitor the streets and protect the city museums and schools. The council’s Deputy Major has said that the cameras have had a positive impact on reducing crime and are having “a huge impact on people’s feeling of safety”. Some welcome the increased security benefits, some fear for individual privacy and rights. 

The UK riots in the summer of 2011 really brought the issue of CCTV usage into focus and demonstrated the full positive impact of CCTV surveillance on reducing crime and identifying suspects. At the height of the riots Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Foy said “We will have photographs and evidence that we will use to identify you and bring you to justice”. The same day the photographs, taken from CCTV, of the first fifteen suspects were released by the BBC.

CCTV images and footage were used to help identify many offenders guilty of serious crimes during the riots. These included CCTV footage which gave police the make and registration number of a car used to run down two police officers who were chasing rioters in Waltham Forest, North East London. It was CCTV imagery also that was used to identify and convict the attackers of a Malaysian student and CCTV footage that identified a serious gun attack on police and a police helicopter in Birmingham.

The key element in bringing suspects to justice with CCTV footage is the quality of the images obtained. To this end it is important to have a CCTV system installed by a professional and fully qualified, reputable security systems company. The security systems themselves are also vitally important, analogue CCTV images are unlikely to be of sufficient quality to be used as evidence.  The best option to provide high quality images which police can use to obtain a conviction are HD CCTV systems which can be either IP megapixel cameras or HD SDI CCTV.

A CCTV system to adequately protect your home or business may typically consist of four high quality cameras, power supply units and a DVR for remote monitoring and viewing.  

Two new client wins for London based intruder alarm, burglar alarm & CCTV security company British Security Technologies.

British Security Technologies has announced the award of two major new client contracts, Westminster Abbey and German television company ZDF. The London based security company provides intruder alarms, burglar alarms, CCTV, control panels and a range of other security products and services.

The work for Westminster Abbey will involve the design and installation of a fully integrated security and safety system including intruder alarm, fire alarm, door entry and digital CCTV systems. Westminster Abbey is one of the leading tourist attractions in London and a Grade 1 listed building of major historical importance. British Security Technologies has designed a security system for the project which avoids all unnecessary external cabling so as to maintain the ambience of the building. The independent hybrid wireless platforms utilised function independently and are fully integrated to provide maximum security and fire protection.

The contract award from German TV company ZDF will involve a fully integrated fire and security access control system for the companies London headquarters, this includes intruder alarm, CCTV and fire alarms. The works are currently underway and are being carried out to the exacting specifications of the German design consultants with a completion date expected for January.  The headquarters building in Westminster is also Grade 1 listed and so to avoid any aesthetic issues British Security Technologies designed a unique Comelit door entry panel with flush and desk mounted PLanux monitors in all areas.

For more information on these or any other projects by British Security Technologies please call 0800 393 364, email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website www.britishsecuritytechnologies.com

Marching forward with technology.

At British Security Technologies we are constantly keeping abreast of new technologies as they become available to the security market.
We also keep up with related technologies that integrate with security.
To this end we have recently invested in the training of all our engineers to install and commission computer controlled home automation and audio / visual distribution systems.

New developments in these areas are now seeing the integration of home entertainment / CCTV / alarms and automation systems into one easily managed and centrally controlled system.
In conjunction with Armour Home Electronics, Paxton Access and ADI Gardner / Milestone we have now incorporated the necessary skills to install the following products:

1) SYSTEMLINE audio and visual home entertainment distribution systems
2) PAXTON access control systems
3) MILESSTONE server based IP megapixel camera systems including integration with PAXTON access.

We have recently completed and or been appointed to several major projects incorporating these disciplines and will be reporting on these in future updates.

Our new corporate video is now complete and can be viewed on the Home Page of this website. It features an introduction to our company by Managing Director Greg Cutler and interviews and comments by our customers. It lasts less than 2 minutes and is well worth a watch.