News

On 2 April 2006 the CCTV video surveillance system covering downtown Sofia was officially put in operation. The system has been designed and realized by the joint company Lirex BG – Sectron and it is part of the long-term strategy of the Ministry of Interior for undertaking active measures targeted at crime prevention and security enhancement. It is expected that several strategic goals will be achieved by means of the highly modern digital CCTV system, some of them being traffic control, crime prevention and gathering of operational information at critical points known as places of pick-pocketing, drug distribution and other antisocial activities.
Currently, the system incorporates tens of cameras, situated on the main city traffic link between “TZUM” and “Orlov Most”. They provide surveillance data of traffic lanes, road intersections, subways and buildings of greater importance. The project includes the use of General Electric – Kampro standard fixed cameras, high speed Pelco PTZ dome cameras which cover larger areas, and infrared illuminators. The image from all cameras is being transmitted by a digital data link to a Surveillance Center situated in the SDVR (Sofia Internal Affairs Department) building. In order to achieve this, video signal from each camera is digitally encoded, and transmitted to the Surveillance Center via protected fiber optic communication network link, designed and built exclusively for the use of the CCTV system. The archived video data will be used for detection of traffic-law violations; detection and tracking of wanted vehicles; control of areas with high concentration of illegal activities like pick-pocketing, drug sell, football vandalism, etc. One of the main advantages of the new system is the lack of subjectivism during the collection and analysis of the video data, as well as the protective features which do not allow aftermath manipulation of the video material.
The successful design and realization of a system of such a scale by using conventional Pelco and General Electric Kampro cameras proves digital multicast video as a flexible CCTV solution for bigger projects. It clearly demonstrates in practice the possibility of integrating existing analogue CCTV cameras in new large-scale digital video networks with unified control interface. It also shows the unlimited system expansion capability that these systems have.
It can be said without any doubt that the cameras and the central control facilities provided by Lirex BG – Sectron mark the latest technical achievements in the digital CCTV surveillance field. Throughout the project design phase, the system was closely adapted to the city specifics and needs thus assuring the best possible effect. Further more the quality of the end product and all the services provided by Lirex BG – Sectron was acknowledged by the Ministry of Interior’s chief staff as an effort to make Sofia a safer European city, providing its citizens and visitors with technical security facilities of the highest level.