Company News • 08.12.2008

Security for shopping-mall

Zooming-in on Manchester Arndale’s Digital CCTV

This centre has recently undergone a £150m refurbishment, which has seen the creation of a 75 new shop units increasing retail space by 300,000 sq ft to 1.4m sq ft plus a stunning roof light in Halle Square along with a contemporary face-lift to the adjoining road, Market Street.

Defining the requirement

Working hand-in-hand with the centre’s re-development, the upgrade of its CCTV surveillance system has been devised to establish a comprehensive state-of-the art, integrated security and site management monitoring solution.

Replacing an earlier system, phase one of the CCTV installation is the result of a meticulous review of the centre’s own needs, and from experience gained whilst visiting systems operated at other similarly sized shopping centres around the UK.

The degree of pre-installation fact-finding and in-depth consultation with other operators is only part of the story. Glen Barkworth, Manchester Arndale’s General Manager explained, “We wanted to make sure that we had covered all the bases with this new system. To do this, we posed a number of key infrastructure and operational questions. These were initially levied at our consultants Roberts and Partners, in order to draw conclusions on the specifications that would best suit our operational needs.”

Barkworth continued, ”A number of the sites we had looked at employed fibre optic cabling as the video transmission medium, while others used structured cabling networks to deliver their camera images. Taking into account the fact that we already had a perfectly well engineered coax cable based installation, and wanting to maintain a reliable and robust infrastructure, we decided to stick to a closed system. This also yielded the benefit of reduced costs by not having to install a new network of cables and above all, meant that our secure images would be transmitted in high-quality real-time.”

In-depth consultation

In-line with Barkworth’s vision to ensure the system would meet the centre’s operational needs, independent consultants Be Prepared, of Bath, were invited to provide a critique of the new draft proposal. Briefed to supply an analysis that would confirm the optimum system specification, the final design was also shaped using further input from the local police, under their ‘Secure by design’ initiative.

Acting in accordance with Manchester Arndale project team’s well-defined procurement process, the contract to supply the new system was put out to tender to five installation companies. On review of their bids, the supplier of on-going maintenance and the original installer of the previous surveillance system, ZOOM CCTV of Warrington, were awarded the prestigious contract.

Addressing the key objective to ‘secure surveillance coverage of all areas accessible by customers, staff or contractors’, the final system blueprint was chosen for its ability to provide detailed colour monitoring for effective security, Heath & Safety and centre management. This comprehensive level of coverage also meant that the centre would be able to increase its provision for effective duty of care throughout the site.

Drawing on their resources as an appointed Panasonic Premier Integrator, ZOOM’s winning proposal had drawn on Manchester Arndale’s favourable experience of operating their existing Panasonic based CCTV system, submitting a plan that would meet their operational requirements, utilising the latest equipment from the same manufacturer.

“Choosing to base our surveillance system around Panasonic equipment was not a difficult choice,” says Barkworth. “For instance, in support of their camera video matrix, they offered us a guaranteed 4-hour response, to supply ‘hot-swappable’ components in the event of a system malfunction - quite literally the best support we could find. The fact that Panasonic supply high-security sites such as Scottish prisons, also confirmed to us that their performance record was clearly established, vindicating our choice of equipment supplier, which in turn helped to secure a high level of confidence when placing the capital investment order.”
Commencing the installation of phase one of the new surveillance system, ZOOM’s first task was to re-locate the existing control room to facilitate an all-new state-of-the-art Communications Centre 200 metres away. From there, the new operational nerve centre was to employ the first installation in the UK of Panasonic’s latest graphical user interface (GUI) touch-screen control system. Designed to provide system operators with a fast and intuitive route to all system functions, the carefully thought-through and detailed scheme was made all the more effective, due to the high degree of electronic systems integration.

Linked to the centre’s access control and fire systems, all sub-systems are controlled from within an operational environment designed by ZOOM to maximise the potential of the system. Utilising a camera switching matrix and desktop controllers, operators can readily select any of the site’s 87 colour cameras for high-resolution monitoring. In the event of a major incident that may require support, or intervention from other members of the security team, key camera images can be switched for display onto a centrally mounted 37" flat screen Plasma monitor.

Specified to provide fast access to high-quality video recordings of the centre’s mall’s and 1,000-seater food court, the system uses a 30 Terra Byte hard disc based digital recording system. Programmed to meet the security risk assessment needs of each individual camera and its particular area of surveillance coverage, the video information from all system cameras is recorded and stored for a 30-day period.

Due to the nature of the centre’s 24-hour operation, staff and contractors will often be required to work ‘out-of-hours’. Providing a protection for them, especially in the areas ‘back of house’, the desire to obtain a consistent level of clarity and detail of picture content throughout the range of low-light conditions, led ZOOM to specify Super D colour cameras. Offering 570 line high-resolution imaging, the cameras provide the best quality of images available in the prevailing lighting conditions, ensuring all activity is kept securely in view, particularly in respect to monitoring individuals’ Health and Safety environment.

Linked to the access control system, any door activation to, or from the back of house area triggers an alarm activation to initiate instant start-up recording. This intelligent use of the digital recording media helps to make the most of the system’s valuable digital storage capacity and maximises system performance.

Integrated security management

Operating from any one of the four control workstations, and under the supervision of the Communications Centre’s Controllers, Task Co-ordinators run regular random CCTV patrols around the various mall zones. As 90% of all incidents occurring in the Manchester Arndale are initially radioed-in to the Communications Centre, its key ‘task’ (hence the name given to its officers) is to act as an incident control room. Utilising the available mix of CCTV surveillance tracking, audio communications and staff on the ground; a full picture of any unfolding incident and level of corresponding action required can be quickly and effectively verified.

Reliance Security is the company contracted to supply professional security personnel to Manchester Arndale. Kevin Elloway, head of security at Manchester Arndale said, “Reflecting the Arndale’s modern approach to attitudes and responsibilities of its officers, we (Reliance Security) provide a full compliment of fully-trained security personnel. The company specialises in supplying ground-level staff to implement the day-to-day security needs of our customers, in this case, deploying staff to man Manchester Arndale’s Communications Centre, Malls and Information Desk. Supporting the use of electronic security, Reliance officers on the malls carry out pre-emptive ‘shop patrols’. These patrols help to establish a rapport with the various retailers’ staff and act as a deterrent to would-be criminals. Splitting the centre’s malls into five zones, irregular tours of shops within each zone are carried out during every morning, lunchtime and afternoon tour of duty. Further integrated security protection is gained from the centre playing a key role in the city’s ‘StoreNet’ scheme. With over 260 retailers enrolled, the network of radio linked retail security staff utilise Manchester Arndale’s Communications Centre to disseminate information on current suspected, or actual criminal activity.

Barkworth continues, ” We constantly monitor our retail tenants’ operations, with a view to helping them to reduce in-store crime. The intelligent structuring of mall tours is a clear and visible sign that we are here to help, assist and protect the retailers’ staff and property. These measures are instigated by the Prudential to protect their customers’ safety and operational profits. The success of our tenants’ business has a direct bearing on the performance of the underlying property portfolios we manage. We therefore apply considerable effort in all aspects of Manchester Arndale security and general management; to position ourselves as the Landlord of Choice.”

Video evidence

Confirming every detail of the new system’s product architecture and operational programming, ZOOM provided a wealth of on-site and technical support. This support is demonstrated in the fitting out of a separate video ‘Replay room'. In this secure area, the Arndale’s Task Co-ordinators are able to utilise a system controller to select and log evidential CCTV video footage.

In conjunction with a video mixer and meeting with the requirement of the local police force, if required the high-quality digital video footage can be down loaded via an analogue video time-lapse machine on to more traditional recording media, such as VHS tape. At all times, this secure operation is carried out in full compliance to Data Protection legislation, under guidelines set within the Prudential’s own procedures.

Summarising the upgrade work to Manchester Arndale, Barkworth commented, “As part of Prudential’s retail letting service to its customers, the deployment of effective site security and management is essential. The new Panasonic based CCTV system plays an important role in helping maintain and attract new tenants. In what is very competitive market place, Prudential is able to deliver a quality retail letting service, providing an audit trail of operational activity designed to keep its tenants safe and secure.”