What is Smartville?
Smartville is the project name for our privately funded ANPR and CCTV evidence gathering project – It consists of a set of strategically positioned Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and high quality surveillance cameras
The idea is to capture images of criminals entering the 'outer smartville zone' by vehicle or on foot with either ANPR (to capture their registration number) OR by motion sensitive CCTV (to capture their image) if they are on foot.
Once they have entered the outer zone, we will then be able to record their direction of travel and activities within the outer zone to gather more evidence that places them in a particular area at a specified time.
Any evidence gathered is delivered to the Police with a crime report that has been written by the security company we are working with.
The people who write the crime reports are ex-Police and have been forensically trained, they will present and defend any evidence gathered in Court if required to do so.
IMPORTANT: The security company will not investigate any footage until a crime number is provided
Richings Park Smartville outline
To provides ANPR coverage FOR ALL KEY ENTRY POINTS INTO Richings Park Village and will also include the installation of a number of evidence-gathering ‘overview cameras’ strategically placed within The Village – these are designed to observe and record criminals preparing or executing crimes.
For more information, see the FAQ’s page
How do we know if Smartville works?
Smartville is based on a similar project started in Ickenham by an ex Police officer in 2010 and is supported by both Thames Valley and The Met Police.
So far it’s proved to be an effective deterrent that’s forcing some criminals to ‘relocate’ to ‘softer areas’.
Recent figures show a drop in reported crime of 90%, an increased detection rate of 34% and over 1200 years of sentencing since the scheme started.*
Ickenham is a good example for how the scheme can work with the correct funding. However, it has taken a lot of time to set up and develop and has many more cameras in the scheme with supporting footage being supplied by home owners too.
*Information provided by the Ickenham team project
What else do we need to do?
Technology alone cannot protect a village, however, it will help to support other measures you can take yourself
1. Become an active member within your local Neighbourhood Watch Scheme by visiting: www.ourwatch.org.uk Let's start working together to fight crime.
2. Join the Ivers and Richings Park Crimewatch Facebook page for regular updates on what is going on in the area and to get useful crime prevention tips.
3. Improve the security on your property:
- Install an alarm system
- If you don't have CCTV – consider installing one
- If you have a CCTV system or are considering installing one – contact us to find out if it can be used to aid the gathering of more evidence
- Get building entry points checked by an approved security company
Make a contribution
We are currently planning Phase II of the project for which more funds will be required
Unable to use PayPal, please see FAQs