October Vaughan Forum: 999, CCTV and Computers: the History of Police Control Rooms

Presented by Dr Chris Williams

Many of us will have dialed ‘999’ and asked for ‘police’. But what’s the history of this system that we take for granted? It began in the 1930s – but owed a lot to earlier innovation from the military and the railways. Once British police forces became centrally controlled on an operational level, they also transformed technologically. Computers brought information into the control room, and CCTV brought images. This lecture tells the story of this transformation and its wider significance in British society.

About the Presenter

Dr Chris Williams has researched and written various books and articles on police history, including police surveillance and the emergence of CCTV. He is the author of Police Control Systems in Britain, 1775–1975: From Parish Constable to National Computer (2014).

Event Details

This is an in-person forum. There will be coffee, tea and cake before the Forum from 6.15 pm. The talk will start at 6.30pm and finish by 7.45pm. Secular Hall, Humberstone Gate, Leicester.