Museum to install talking CCTV

Express & Star | April 13, 2007

Talking CCTV cameras could be introduced at one of the Black Country's top tourist attractions, it was revealed today.

The Black Country Living Museum would be the first place in Dudley borough to install the new crimebusting Big Brother devices in a modern attempt to solve an age-old problem.

Moves to beef up security at the museum in Tipton Road comes after an arson attack on a builders' shed and the theft of a dog after a visitor's car was broken into within less than a week.

A security guard at the site would be able to shout warnings through a speaker attached to the camera if anyone was spotted misbehaving.

The aim of the cameras is to speed up the time it takes to deal with nuisance and crime.

And the museum's efforts to stamp out the problem may be monitored by Dudley Council which says it is keen to see how effective the technology is.

The talking cameras have recently hit the headlines after the Government announced plans to put the project on trial in 20 spots across the country, including Sandwell, after a successful pilot in Middlesborough.

Black Country Living Museum director Ian Walden said there had been discussions about introducing the system at the site for some time.

“The arson attack on the shed and the car being broken into on the overflow car park are totally separate incidents. It will always be extremely difficult to make the museum site inaccessible. We will be beefing up our CCTV. The system talked about in the press recently of talking CCTV is something we are considering as we think this offers the best solution for us.

“The overflow car park is patrolled by staff on a regular basis because we obviously don't want members of the public affected by these things.”

On Friday night a shed containing historic timber was damaged in an arson attack. Black Country Living Museum spokeswoman Fiona Carding today stressed it was business as usual after the fire as the building work is quite seperate from the main part of the museum.