Vemotion video compression and transmission equipment has been installed in the latest Leesdwatch mobile CCTV vans which are now able to augment the existing fixed security camera network in cost-effectively providing live images to Police Control Rooms (ARCs) as well as to the control room within the Elland Road stadium.

“We have forged an excellent working relationship with Vemotion staff who have adapted their technology to meet our specific need”, said Marcus Beacham, Head of Community Safety and Partnerships. “This has enabled us to enhance the support we already provide to West Yorkshire Police in their operations”, he added.

Some football matches are more likely than others to be a hotspot for public disorder and other offences, especially before and after the game when large crowds of fans from opposing teams converge on the ground and disperse again later. Whereas the mobile CCTV vans had previously been able to record images for subsequent viewing and capture for evidential purposes, their effectiveness has now been further increased.

Both before and after a football match, mobile CCTV vans can be positioned and maneuvered to provide live coverage of areas not adequately covered by the existing fixed camera network as fans travel to and from the ground

Using Vemotion video compression technology, real-time video images captured by standard CCTV cameras mounted on the mobile units are transmitted back to a Vemotion Streaming Server in the CCTV Control Room. An interface from the standard mobile phone network is used to transmit the video over the Internet using GPRS. The Vemotion Encoder provides a highly efficient video compression and transmission that ensures that the quality video images can be reliably transmitted over very low bandwidth connections. This resolves the issues of speed and, combined with the use of the Internet, also resolves the high bandwidth costs as the Images are transmitted in a highly optimised form to make best use of available network bandwidth.