Sheffield Wide Image Switching System
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Sheffield Wide Image Switching System (SWISS) is the city’s digital closed circuit television system (CCTV). It is one of the technologies being used to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, to help reassure the public about their safety and to encourage investment.
The Home Office has provided £3.3m over the last few years for Sheffield to upgrade and expand its existing system with the new facilities this provided launched in February 2003. The work involved many local organisations including South Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, Meadowhall Centre and the Highways Agency. Extra cameras have already been added to the system this year using funds from the Government’s Street Crime Initiative (Devonshire Green/The Wicker), the New Deal for Communities Board (Burngreave), Manor/Castle Development Trust (Park Hill) and Charter Row in the city centre (Single Regeneration Budget, Round 6).
Other areas covered by cameras and help points are the Supertram stops from the city centre to Meadowhall terminus, parts of Tinsley and parts of Darnall and the city centre itself. Further city centre developments include Eyre Street and Sheaf Square.
Other CCTV systems are ‘integrated’ into SWISS, further extending its range e.g The University of Sheffield CCTV system, developed alongside SWISS provides a further 20 cameras and 5 help points covering the campus sites and adjacent streets and communities between Hanover Way and Botanical Gardens.
SWISS … working in partnership
- A fully accredited Alarm Receiving Centre monitoring intruder alarms for customers.
- Help with the City Retailers Against Crime (CRAC) radio communications
- Pager support for ‘Pub Watch’ members
- Visual communication links with South Yorkshire Police to assist on street crime
Objectives of the system
- to prevent crime and assist in detecting offenders
- to provide evidence admissible in Court to assist in convictions
- to help improve people's feelings of being safe
- to provide help points where assistance can summoned by members of the public
- to support other work on crime prevention and community safety
- to help with traffic management and to deliver the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Initiative which checks vehicles suspected of involvement in criminal activity
Contact information regarding CCTV in Sheffield.