New CCTV approaches for environmental enforcement in Ireland

Abstract

According to a survey carried out in Ireland among the environment departments of all Local Authorities, closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems are the most widely used technology for monitoring and prosecuting illegal environmental activities. Despite the fact that new technologies have been proposed in recent years, CCTV remains the preferred option. However, commercial CCTV systems are not specifically designed to tackle environmental enforcement issues. From the survey analysis the main limitations of commercial CCTV equipment deployed to date for environmental enforcement are: night time monitoring, monitoring of high risk or hostile areas, and battery powered CCTV systems for short term or remote deployments. The objective for the research was to identify solutions to the CCTV issues raised in the survey. It focused on the adaptation, installation and testing of commercial CCTV equipment for environmental enforcement scenarios. For each scenario several technologies with different configurations were evaluated. Equipment employed in this work included: digital video cameras, infra red illuminators, analogue cameras with long range optical zoom and low power consumption cameras. The effectiveness of each solution was assessed on its ability to detect and record with accuracy individuals, or vehicle licence plates, and the offences committed in a cost effective manner. In conclusion, this research provided solutions for the three CCTV challenges raised in the survey by Irish Local Authorities. Consequently, new approaches to environmental monitoring are available to Local Authorities for future environmental enforcement in Ireland.