The dynamics behind Wandsworth’s ‘coiled spring’ CCTV monitoring team
By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter
Staff in a busy CCTV control room in South London start every day ‘coiled like a spring’ ready to swing into action, as they respond to unfolding crime, housing emergencies, injured elderly residents, missing people, mental health crises and more.
The team at Wandsworth and Richmond councils’ joint control centre, on Wandsworth High Street, monitor CCTV, field calls, coordinate multi-agency responses to incidents and act as the first point of contact with the public after hours.
Recent major incidents dealt with by the team include tracking the movements of Abdul Ezedi, 35, who took his own life and drowned hours after carrying out a horrifying chemical attack on a woman and her two young daughters in Clapham a year ago.
He was last seen on CCTV leaning over Chelsea Bridge, which connects Battersea to Chelsea, and his body was pulled from the River Thames on February 19 last year.
Chris Cullen, who manages the centre, said that while the attack took place in Lambeth, the council’s footage was used to track Ezedi’s location afterwards up to Chelsea Bridge.
He said: “It was all unknown after Clapham South, where did he go – so it was just following those various different routes, and there were numerous.”
The team also swiftly responded after former soldier Daniel Khalife, now 23, escaped from HMP Wandsworth on the underside of a food delivery truck in September 2023, which sparked a frantic nationwide manhunt. Khalife was jailed for 14 years and three months in February for spying for Iran and escaping from prison.
Mr Cullen said: “Although we’ve got no cameras immediately around the prison, the prison has got lots of cameras inside so they could see the vehicle going and then our cameras picked up the van at Wandsworth Roundabout through the High Street and everything else. Those are the things where it just comes into its own and can actually save time, and obviously provide the evidence or discount things.”
Wandsworth and Richmond councils moved all CCTV services into the joint control centre in 2021 to improve safety across both boroughs.
It is now one of the largest, permanently resourced, council-managed centres in the country.
Control officers work together in shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to monitor the nearly 1,400 council-controlled CCTV cameras covering Wandsworth and Richmond and provide data to the police – including the Met, City of London Police, British Transport Police, Surrey Police and Hampshire Constabulary.
Police officers have spent anything from 10 minutes to several months based in the centre reviewing CCTV footage for different cases.
Another key aspect of the job is responding to calls from the public, contractors, outside agencies and partners – including those reporting antisocial behaviour on council estates and other housing issues. Staff monitor personal alarm systems used by elderly and vulnerable residents and use two-way radios to coordinate responses to incidents with council staff, emergency services and other agencies, like helping to evacuate residents if a fire breaks out in their apartment block.
Some of the control officers are also trained responders, which means they often visit callers’ homes to manage emergencies, like when an elderly or vulnerable person has pressed their alarm, to administer first aid and call emergency services when needed.
Mr Cullen, who has worked in the team for around 20 years, said: “You just do not know what the next phone call is going to be and that’s the thing, some of it becomes very routine – water leak, water leak, water leak, water leak, noise, noise, noise, bit of antisocial behaviour – oh, fire on the fourteenth floor, hang on a minute.”
The team is the first point of contact for people who need help from the council out of hours – whether it’s a housing emergency, a resident fleeing domestic violence who needs emergency accommodation or social services. Mr Cullen explained: “Anything out of hours, the department takes on a new role, so they’re taking calls from social services as well, and some of it can be very, very grim.”
Overall, the control room logged 56,950 calls in 2024. This included 22,000 calls related to CCTV, 3,000 calls from the police asking for footage and 17,000 calls from council officers requesting urgent housing repairs.
The team also recorded 3,100 calls triggered by elderly or vulnerable people’s alarms being pressed, 3,380 calls related to antisocial behaviour, 1,435 calls due to lifts breaking down and 780 calls from people trapped in lifts. A further 2,800 logged calls came from social services after hours, along with 30 calls linked to serious incidents and 27 calls reporting dangerous structures.
Mr Cullen said the team gives the police immeasurable support – not only by tracking suspects and missing people, but even saving lives by finding people displaying signs they are about to take their own life. Among many examples over the last year include staff finding and guiding officers to a man who had put rocks in his pockets before walking into the Thames and others near bridges, who was then rescued.
The team’s work ultimately eases pressure on emergency services and guides the police’s response to other incidents. Staff recalled a recent incident where a member of the public had reported a couple arguing, but a quick check of the CCTV revealed they had actually been dancing for 10 minutes and officers did not need to attend. They can also tell the police if more officers are needed when those already in attendance can’t reach their radios as they are struggling with suspects.
Mr Cullen described staff in the centre as wound ‘like coiled springs, ready to go’. He added their ethos is to ‘plan for the worst, hope for the best’ as they go into work tackling crime, responding to emergencies and helping vulnerable people every day.
Pictured top: Wandsworth and Richmond’s joint control room, Wandsworth High Street (Picture: Wandsworth council)