The impact of the London bombings

Since the tragic events in London on 7/7 last year, and the attempted bombings two weeks later, CCTV has in been in the spotlight as never before.  Thankfully a number of BSIA members were able to assist the police in the reviewing of crucial CCTV images in the aftermath.  These events have certainly underlined the vast improvement in the quality of CCTV evidence available to the police compared to that provided in past incidents.  For example in the Jamie Bulger case 13 years ago the limitations of the low contrast images collected are frequently referred to as an example of poor CCTV, not withstanding the tremendous assistance that this evidence provided to the police in locating the murderers.  By contrast the quality of evidence captured on buses, trains and stations in London has been noted by the public and press alike as being of high quality and has proved invaluable to the authorities in apprehending the suspects connected with the failed attacks on 21/7.  Much of this change can be attributed to the advent of digital recording, improved camera technology and the extensive nature of the CCTV infrastructure we now have in the UK and shows how important it is that our industry continues to innovate.