Lincoln councillors approve £300k CCTV upgrade

City of Lincoln councillors have agreed on plans to invest £300,000 in its ageing CCTV network on November 30.

As previously reported, the council decided to act after an investigation revealed that one in four of Lincoln’s 63 Pan, Tilt and Zoom cameras are faulty.

Many of the cameras have been removed from their routine automatic patrol settings in an attempt to reduce the wear on their moving parts.

After considering a number of options, councillors decided to approve the installation of a wireless IP CCTV system, which would see data transferred online, to replace the current system which transmits over fibre optic cable.

The £300,000 system would also see the cameras replaced and is estimated to save £543,000 on operating costs over five years and £764,000 over seven years.

The council operates a total of 119 fixed and moving cameras in Lincoln.

Of the remaining 56 fixed cameras, 39 operate through the multiplex mode system, which allows the operator to access individual cameras during a live incident.

The equipment that provides this function is now obsolete, so any failure means awaiting specialist repair and a risk of it not being repairable at some stage.

The network has been a valuable resource for Lincolnshire Police during 2014/15, dealing with 14,000 incidents and assisting in 1,800 arrests.

Caroline Bird, Community Services Manager, said: “It is excellent that our Executive has agreed the funding to upgrade Lincoln’s CCTV system as the safety of residents, visitors and businesses in the city is of paramount importance.

“We will now be able to work on bringing in a new, modern system using the latest wireless technology that will continue to protect the city for years to come.”

A decision on whether to extend the city’s residents’ parking scheme was also due to be discussed by councillors on the Executive committee at the same meeting.

However, a decision has been deferred and will be decided at a later date.