Gough & Kelly worked in partnership with Sheffield City Council, South Yorkshire Police and Safer Streets to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield.
The customer
Sheffield City Council is the local authority for the City of Sheffield, a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. South Yorkshire Police are responsible for the area including Sheffield and up to Doncaster.
The ‘Safer Streets’ fund is a government initiative to tackle neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG), and anti-social behaviour (ASB). Since the Safer Streets Fund launched in 2020, the government has invested £125 million through five rounds of the Safer Streets Fund, and the Safety of Women at Night Fund across England and Wales.
The challenge
Due to the growing student population, both Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire police wanted to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour on Ecclesall Road in central Sheffield and applied for the Safer Streets grant to facilitate this.
The busy stretch runs for approximately 3.6 miles and houses a large student population, from both Sheffield Hallam and the University of Sheffield. Students are a particular target for theft due to course requirements for technology and a perceived naivety around security.
The sheer volume of foot and vehicle traffic, combined with lower police presence and CCTV blind spots, means crime along the road can be particularly hard to manage.
There is also the Sunnybank Nature Reserve, established in 1985 and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Sheffield and Rotherham, which is located at the city centre end of the road. The reserve provides a reasonable amount of cover for those alighting on foot, and due to the protections of the reserve, traditional monitoring methods are prohibited.
The solution
Gough & Kelly installed 15 5MP IR Speed Dome PTZ Cameras with 30x optical zoom and cutting-edge Avada software, which is compatible with new and old cameras and enables the police and the council to monitor the area like never before.
The software allows for advanced identification of people of interest and has a spotlight search function that saves time and resources while providing accurate results over an extended timeframe.
The associated signage was placed noticeably around the area to act as a further deterrent.
Andrew Williams, Monitoring Centre & Business Crime Operations Assistant Manager at Sheffield City Council Monitoring Centre, says: “After receiving the Safer Streets Fund, we chose Gough & Kelly since they provide innovative technology, like wireless cameras and fast download speeds compatible with our existing software, which Sheffield Council had not previously encountered.”
“The security intervention has met objectives, with a reduction in crime and calls to the police, the CCTV warning signs being a significant deterrent, and residents of the local area feel safe.”
The future
Gough & Kelly will continue to provide traffic and anti-social behaviour monitoring services for the council on Ecclesall Road.
On the back of the success of the Ecclesall Road installation, Gough & Kelly has also been awarded a contract to extend its support for the Safer Streets initiative in Sheffield with a new electronic security scheme on London Road.