Kingdom Systems - Experts & Thought Leaders

Drastically worsening thefts from professional gangs on UK construction sites have garnered national outrage and prompted many firms across the country to install temporary CCTV towers to deter ‘stealing to order’, say Kingdom Systems. The company, who protect hundreds of construction sites from theft each year, warns about the rise of ‘stealing to order’- where criminals are given a list of sought-after machinery and equipment to then steal and sell on. Equipment Theft Act Temporary CCTV towers can massively help to prevent ‘stealing to order’ crimes and protect businesses that are at risk of losing £800 million every year, according to insurer Allianz Cornhill. Businesses are also desperately waiting for the Government to address this surgeBusinesses are also desperately waiting for the Government to address this surge, says Kingdom Systems. Last year, the Government brought in the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act to counteract the problem in the agricultural sector, but it failed to address the issue suffered by construction sites nationwide. Research by CIOB With research by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) revealing that a staggering 92% of construction workers are affected by theft, with 21% saying they suffer from it every single week, it’s an epidemic that largely lies in the hands of individual project managers to prevent until wider governmental changes are made. Often, tradespeople and construction workers have no choice but to leave expensive equipment and machinery onsite overnight, making construction sites a goldmine for thieves looking for opportunities. Temporary CCTV towers CCTV footage from temporary CCTV towers can provide valuable evidence in the event of a theft “The serious risk of theft is a concern for all construction site managers and staff, especially when demand for stolen equipment is so high and the costs of replacing them remain equally astronomical. But installing permanent CCTV towers is expensive, time-consuming, and unlikely to be the best option for temporary construction sites,” says Paul Worsley, Director of Service from Kingdom Systems. “Installing temporary CCTV can be an efficient way to enhance security, deter criminals and safely document any breaches or suspicious activity.” CCTV footage from temporary CCTV towers can provide valuable evidence in the event of a theft, speeding up the time it takes to catch the perpetrators. With 34% of tradespeople saying that the thefts have impacted their mental health, temporary CCTV provides that much-needed peace of mind for the sector. Author's quote “For everyone involved in a project, a theft of a considerable amount of equipment or machinery can cause a lot of stress and worry."  "The idea that professional gangs rather than opportunists are targeting sites without proper security means they need to have a more strategic and effective approach to deterring criminals, beyond just the usual lock and key,” says Paul Worsley.

Spoils precious green spaces. Dangerous to humans and wildlife. Could contain toxic material or asbestos. Damages the watercourses and soil quality. Ugly eyesore. Local nuisance. Breeding ground for pests such as rats and cockroaches. Despite all of these negative impacts, local authorities across England had to deal with 976,000 fly-tipping incidents in the year running up to March 2020. In other words, roughly 20,000 people per week on average thought it was a good idea to dump their household or commercial waste on a road, pavement, piece of farmland or another place where they aren’t supposed to. Environmental support services At around the time that the collection of these statistics ended, three businesses working in collaboration took their new solution to the marketplace. John Roberts, Solutions Director at Kingdom L A Support which provides environmental support services to local bodies across the UK, said: “Through working with local councils for the best part of ten years, I’ve seen first-hand how steep the rise in environmental crime has been. Knowing that the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns could only worsen the growing problem, I was worried.” Three businesses working in collaboration took their new solution to the marketplace “Up until that point, fly-tipping was being tackled in one of two ways. Either local councils would need to watch hours and hours of standard CCTV footage, which was often too poor quality for any faces or number plates to be identified anyway, or local authority officers were tasked with manually trawling through the rubbish to find some proof of address that could link the waste to the person who dumped it leading to lengthy investigations.” Grade video analytics “As you can imagine, neither were effective – and both used up huge amounts of local authority time and budgets. So, I reached out to Kingdom Systems and Bi3 to see if anything could be done.” WasteWatch Cam is a next-generation camera solution that has been designed specifically to capture littering and fly-tipping offences by harnessing enterprise grade video analytics which learns scenes and objects through patented algorithms, combined with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). Richard Eaves, Head of Business Intelligence and Operations at Business Insight 3 (Bi3) said: “I led a specialist team to run through all stages of the product’s technology development – from initial testing and feedback to real world deployment. This took approximately six months due to the need to create a bespoke software application that could link two technologies – one that was well-established and the other that was cutting-edge.” Clear video footage The system also detects number plates captured within the local vicinity using dedicated ANPR cameras" The software that Bi3 created was also designed to trigger a user-friendly email alert whenever an incident is captured, which is immediately transmitted to the L A Support team, along with all supporting evidence, including clear video footage and screenshots of the fly-tipping taking place. “The custom-built detection systems aren’t like any other,” said Craig Walton, Head of Systems at Kingdom Systems which delivers cost-effective security systems. “The 5MP HD cameras with starlight technology enable the enterprise grade video analytics to detect and alert on littering of objects as small as a box of McDonalds McNuggets. The system also detects number plates captured within the local vicinity using dedicated ANPR cameras which come fitted and powerful auto adapting infra-red lights that enable it to capture footage no matter the light quality or weather conditions.” Standard CCTV cameras L A Support then provides vital human verification of this evidence, before taking action in the form of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs), warnings and – where that is not followed through – prosecution. This makes the solution completely end-to-end, with everything from detecting the offence to holding the offender accountable, taken care of by WasteWatch Cam. The standard CCTV cameras that were in place were capturing about 50 incidents a week Dartford Borough Council was needing to move up to three tonnes of fly-tipped waste from a lay-by that had become notorious for fly-tipping, every week. The standard CCTV cameras that were in place were capturing about 50 incidents a week, but only a fraction of this footage was clear enough to be used to hold an offender accountable. Evidence being indisputable Earlier this year, the Council installed WasteWatch Cam in the fly-tipping hotspot. In the first week that it was there, seven incidents were captured and – due to the evidence being indisputable – all seven offenders paid their FPNs. More than that, the Council only needed to clear less than one tonne of waste from the spot in the whole first three months that WasteWatch was installed – a huge decrease from nearly three tonnes per week. Richard Cherry, Enforcement Manager at Dartford Borough Council said: “Fly-tipping has a huge impact on our local environment and our reputation.” Fly-tipping hotspot The number of incidents in that spot is 1% what it once was, and the number hasn’t increased elsewhere" “Unfortunately, because we’re so close to the M25, we feel that knock-on effect of passing motorists thinking they can dump their waste here and get away with it. But the installation of WasteWatch Cam has been hugely successful. Unlike measures that were in place before, it’s not just a deterrent – fly-tippers don’t just see it and dump their waste elsewhere – it’s preventive.” “The number of incidents in that spot is 1% what it once was, and the number hasn’t increased elsewhere.” The Council has now installed WasteWatch Cam in another spot, just outside the town of New Barn. Financially-beneficial solution Roberts said: “I think the potential for WasteWatch is endless. Even months after it was first installed in Dartford, the incident rate hasn’t risen. It’s a long-term, financially-beneficial solution that holds offenders responsible and means that taxpayers’ money can be put towards a better purpose, rather than clearing up after people who destroy our countryside and communities.” The advanced technology and hardware mean it could be the key to truly cracking down on this issue" Expanding on the different settings that WasteWatch could be installed at, Walton said: “There’s no reason why it couldn’t be installed on every motorway, piece of private agricultural land, fly-tipping hotspot and beauty spot across the UK. The advanced technology and hardware mean it could be the key to truly cracking down on this issue and creating much cleaner, greener spaces for us all.” Online learning platforms “As consumers, we are slowly starting to accept the many different benefits of technology into our lives,” added Eaves. “We use a FitBit to monitor our health, online learning platforms to develop our knowledge, and even drones to speed up search and rescue missions. Now is the time we use AI and video analytics to rid of fly-tipping.” WasteWatch Cam is an end-to-end solution designed to support tackle the UK’s growing problem of fly-tipping. Created in 2020, it uses a combination of ANPR and video analytics to effectively identify offenders and their vehicles in the course of littering and fly-tipping as well as see to it that the individual is held responsible through a highly experienced enforcement team issuing FPNs, warnings and – where that is not followed through – prosecution.

Councils in England dealt with nearly one million instances of fly-tipping, in the year running up to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of the numerous lockdowns since then has worsened the problem still. Closed waste facilities and many houses deciding to have a ‘clear out’ has led to mountains of house-hold rubbish, electrical goods, construction waste and vehicle parts piling up on pavements, roads, highways and countryside. WasteWatch Cam But three leading businesses have combined their skill set and collaborated to create a bespoke solution - WasteWatch Cam, created by Business Insight 3 (Bi3), Kingdom Systems and Kingdom LA Support (Kingdom Services Group Ltd). WasteWatch Cam is a camera system that harnesses advanced technology, combined with real-time number plate recognition, in order to not only detect the fly-tipping offence, but also see to it that the individual is held accountable. Enterprise grade video analytics with ANPR The technologies are linked via a software application that has been created specifically for this purpose Experts in human, vehicle and object detection, Business Insight 3 (Bi3) created the state-of-the-art technology behind the camera solution, through seamlessly combining state-of-the-art, enterprise grade video analytics, which learns scenes and objects through patented algorithms, with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). The technologies are linked via a software application that has been created specifically for this purpose. Kingdom Systems, which is part of the larger Kingdom Services Group, then set about physically building and designing the camera hardware that this technology could sit within. Real-time identification Once in place, the camera not only detects the car or person on-site, as well as the item they are discarding but also identifies the offender in real-time. This data is then raised as an instant alert, with all the supporting details, passed to the experienced team at Kingdom LA Support who take immediate action in the form of fines, warnings and where that is not followed through, prosecution. Due to this, WasteWatch Cam is a completely end-to-end solution, where every part of the process is managed with little to no input needed, from the local authority and its stretched resources. This makes it very beneficial financially too. Enhancing fly-tipper accountability Previously, authorities would need to spend time hunting through the rubbish to find any proof of addresses that could hold the fly-tipper accountable and then, spend money clearing the rubbish. WasteWatch Cam, on the other hand, is often completely free to councils, as long as a certain, reasonably low number of offences are detected. And, it seems councils are already buying into the idea, with two already on board and currently using the system - these being Barnet and Dartford. In fact, within just the first week of being installed, Dartford’s WasteWatch captured and reported seven fly-tipping offences, one of which is due to go to court in the next few months. Due to this success, the council has chosen to implement another system in the area. Countering rise in fly-tipping offences You need only read a newspaper to see the sheer number of fly-tipping incidents going on in your area" John Roberts, Head of Service at Kingdom LA Support (Kingdom Services Group Ltd.), said “You need only read a newspaper to see the sheer number of fly-tipping incidents going on in your area. The problem is getting worse and – not only is it an eye-sore, but it’s also damaging our environments, local habitats as well as taking valuable time and resources away from our local councils.” He adds, “I believe a huge part of it is down to what is often referred to as the ‘broken window theory’. This is when the action of one person makes another think - It’s okay to do the same. For example, if one person leaves a bag of waste near to a collection bin but not in it, then another person will just add to that pile.” 24/7 monitoring and end-to-end management solution John further said, “Not only does this make for a warm place for rodents to breed but if the bags get wet – which happens a lot in England – then companies are also not legally allowed to take them leading to an ever-increasing build-up of rubbish.” Richard Eaves, Head of Business Intelligence at Bi3, said “We created Waste Watch to be the best possible solution to the problem. With its 24/7 monitoring, real-time detection and completely end-to-end management – it moves beyond just acting as a deterrent, it tackles the vast problem of throwing waste from vehicles and fly-tipping at its core.” “It’s great to see local authorities already reaping the rewards of WasteWatch”, said Craig Walton, Head of Kingdom Systems, adding “We hope that it will provide a real step forward, for the benefit of our local councils, our communities and our much-loved green spaces.”