They are the eyes and ears of the West Midlands transport network and help keep the region moving on the road, bus, Metro and railway networks. But CCTV operators at British Standard-accredited Transport for West Midlands’ Regional Transport Coordination Centre have also played their part in helping catch criminals and helped keep people safe.
Around 3,000 cameras beam images back to the 219 monitors in the control room, which are studied 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days per year. As well as transport cameras, the team looks after public space CCTV on behalf of a number of local authorities, including Solihull and Walsall.
They are also connected to the police and can send images crucial to evidence at the push of a button. As a result, the operators have witnessed some serious crime and distressing incidents – none more so than the murder of Bailey Atkinson in Walsall, which was captured by an operator in the centre.
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They were able to capture the attack, the registration numbers of the vehicles, and their direction of travel of the offenders. Operators have also witnessed cars being stolen or cannibalised and people with weapons on railway station platforms, providing useful evidence for prosecutors.
They can also ensure help is deployed when people need it, for example, for medical emergencies. But it’s not all about distressing incidents and serious crime. The team has also bore witness to the bizarre, such as the time an operator witnessed a couple sucking each other’s toes on a platform during the railway strike.
Unattended bags also garner attention, as do pigeons, which stand still for a long time, which could mean it has detected something of concern. Kerry Blakeman, Head of Security & Policing for Transport for West Midlands, said: “We have radio connectivity with the police and images can be dropped into the police control room at the click of a button.
Kerry Blakeman, Head of Security & Policing for Transport for West Midlands. PIC: WMCA
“They (the operators) can actually see what’s going on and respond accordingly. We capture, every day, in the region of about 30 evidential captures. The majority of the camera recordings will be kept for 30 days, but if they’re evidential, they are kept as long as police need them.
“We have a bank which covers areas we haven’t got covered (by operators) – if something happens at a station not covered, we can go back to it. As part of this scheme, we have the Safer Travel policing team. We will keep an eye on them as they patrol stations and if we see anything we can radio over and let them know what is going on.
“We don’t just look at people for the sake of looking at people. We’re here for the prevention and detection of crime. There are crimes over the network. You’re looking at 19 million passenger journeys a month. Per 100,000 journeys, you are likely to be a victim of crime 1.9 times. That contextualises it.
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“But we don’t rest on our laurels and we know keeping the network safe helps people get on a bus.”
The team were regional finalists in a British Security Award in the Team of the Year category for the work carried out. Mr Blakeman said: “One of the incidents was the murder of Bailey Atkinson in Walsall.
“We helped secure the evidence to assist in the conviction. That was captured by one of our staff members here – quite traumatic. We do have a support mechanism. We are asked to look at railway lines for fatalities.
“The welfare of our staff is paramount and there is a triage system – we make sure first of all is the person ok to view those images. It’s always voluntary if we ask them to do a search. There is a trim trauma process we put them through if they witness anything. It can be low-level, but if it needs a referral to specialist services, they are available.
“These guys are doing this day in and day out. When we capture images at four in the morning, when was the last time you were awake at 4am?”
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He added: “The team is not just about catching people. They are about looking after and safeguarding them. They’ve seen people on train platforms where they have been concerned for their welfare and got in touch with British Transport Police to safeguard people where they thought they were going to take their own lives.
“We have help points – bus stations, platforms – around the West Midlands. If somebody is in need of help they can press a button and it comes through to the control room here.”
Over on the other side of the control room, the urban transport control cameras give the team a ‘helicopter view’ across the West Midlands. Using the Waze satellite navigation system, operators are able to map out what is happening across the whole network in all seven regions and issue traffic and travel advice to motorists and public transport companies.
Mr Blakeman said: “Waze pulls all of the data to understand what happens across the whole network. National Express radio info through to their drivers. We used this through the Commonwealth Games – this was the tactical coordination centre for all things transport so the movement of people, spectators and keep the network running.
“It’s been done for Christmas shopping too. Transport Safety Officers have devolved police powers so we can get them on the road to direct traffic.”