Archive for August, 2009

Reports in a National Newspaper say that we (UK) have more CCTV than China with a fraction of the population. The UK now boasts 20% of the Worlds CCTV cameras with an estimated 1 camera per 14 people. As individuals it is estimated that we are caught on camera 300 times a day. Whats the problem? well local authorities have been guilty of using legislation designed to Counter Terrorism to spy on people guilty of nothing more than trying to get their children into a certain school.

Senior police officers have openly said that CCTV is responsible for solving only 5% or crime. How can we have 20% of the Worlds CCTV and yet only 5% of crime is solved by the same CCTV designed to stop crime?

Simple really, we believe the reports are correct. Many CCTV operators are not pro-active in their use of the systems they work on and fall into the reactive category of operator. Many system owners are unaware of the management process that needs to be in place in order to ensure that any evidential footage can be admissible in a Court. Having a picture showing crime taking place does not automatically mean that those pictures are admissible in a Court of Law. Many background systems and processes need to be in place in order to satisfy legislative requirements. Paying thousands of pounds to install a system only to find that when you need it it is not admissible is a waste of your money.

CCTV is an aid to security and NOT the be all and end all. Premises still need officers on the ground. The UK has difficulty in retrieving CCTV evidence as there are so many systems on the market with no standardisation. The UK Government missed a trick. Instead of applying standards to all CCTV equipment they let any owner install any system without a thought for recovery of images. The Home Office Scientific Development Branch have standards that cameras must achieve but none of this is a legal requirement.

Watch this space.

Every Tuesday in the UK demos take place across the South against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) vivisection labs, the largest contract testing lab in Europe. Novartis in Southampton and Horsham are regular targets of activists. As we reported a while ago because activists have been all but banned from targeting HLS HQ they have turned their attentions to any company that may have links, directly or indirectly to HLS. Some at risk firms may be unaware they are or could be targeted. Law firms, packaging firms accountancies etc etc. If you believe you could be targeted then talk to us.

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The England team has withdrawn from the World Badminton Championships in India because of “a specific terrorist threat”.

The championships are being played in the city of Hyderabad.

The eight-strong squad pulled out of the tournament, which starts on Monday, following reports of a threat by the Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

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We have 2 courses running over the next few weeks. Our first course is scheduled to begin on Fri 21 Aug and end on Sun 23 Aug 2009. The course will take place at Langstone Technology Park in Havant and we still have places remaining.

The second course is scheduled to run from Fri 18 Sept to Sun 20 Sept 2009 and again is being run at our Langstone Technology Park venue. We still have places available on this course.

For more details email info@sppsolutions.com

We are running 2 Door Supervisors Courses in the coming weeks. They will be held at Langstone Technology Park and will be for 3 rather than 4 days but will have exactly the same content so will be slightly longer days. The cost of the course will be £175pp Incl VAT and exam fees.

Follow the link and see our response to an article in the magazine about a Door Supervisor who was stabbed to death in Manchester on his way home from the venue at which he worked. His stabbing came as a result of refusing entry to party goers earlier in the evening.

SPP Solutions closed down for 10 days with a view to still update the Blog. Unfortunately technical difficulties have meant that we have been unable to update the Blog but now its back.

Sine the 24 Aug we have been approved as an IOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) Centre and will shortly be offering the IOSH Managing Safely course. Watch the website with full details and costings. We have also been granted CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) Centre status and can offer the CIEH Level 2 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace as well as CIEH Level 2 Award in Principles of COSHH.

Full course specifications will be posted soon.