A NEW initiative has been launched to help towns and urban communities protect themselves from criminal activities and anti-social behaviour. Northwood Technology is the Irish company behind the “SafeTown system” which uses high-definition surveillance cameras that have a similar capability as 20 conventional CCTV cameras. Already in use on a trial basis in Charlestown, Co. Mayo, Northwood claims that anti-social behaviour has been eliminated from the town as a result of the new cameras.
A company spokesman explains that the cameras can zoom in on faces, car number plates or incidents up to 500 metres away and can provide court-standard video evidence to Gardaí investigating crimes or anti social behaviour.
“Local traders confirm how the use of SafeTown helped their businesses by eliminating anti-social behaviour, making shoppers, visitors and the local population feel safer and more secure.
“The SafeTown system works continuously all day every day, without the need for human intervention or monitoring. The system can retrospectively replay every movement around the time of the incident and zoom–in, capturing the finest detail with the greatest clarity available from any CCTV system worldwide. This can be done days or weeks after an incident is reported to Gardaí”, the spokesman said.
