Blue Sky: Making an IMPACT

Blue Sky recently provided digital signage solutions to assist Cheshire Police in their ambitious Operation Impact – a major coordinated effort to combat serious organized crime through community engagement. By supplying LED screens and mobile trailers, we enabled wider publicity of this drive to disrupt criminal networks and safeguard vulnerable residents.

In this post we’ll highlight how advanced visual technology can serve public safety objectives like Impact. We’ll also outline the ways businesses can aid authorities tackling issues jeopardizing neighborhoods. Hopefully this inspires more proactive participation in supporting community security from illegal enterprises.

The Threat of Organized Crime
Sophisticated criminal networks running drug trades, fraud rackets and even human trafficking plagues communities across the UK. Drawn by money making potential, organized crime takes root in towns and cities nationwide often violently. The National Crime Agency estimates over £37 billion in illicit proceeds gets laundered through legitimate business annually.

Gangs intensely exploit any vulnerability they can leverage for profit from at-risk youth to the elderly. County lines drug distribution utilising children and unsecured properties is one profitable model. And cyber enabled fraud leveraging personal data causes mass financial loss. Altogether organized crime erodes community safety and prosperity.

To Counter this, Cheshire Constabulary launched Operation Impact. This coordianted effort combines engagement, education and enforcement to protect local residents. Specialised units disrupt known crooks through patrols, raids and arrests. And running undercover operations identifies new perpetrators for targeting. Community interaction also increases through police visiting schools, businesses and neighbourhood watch groups.

The goal is reducing the footholds criminals gain by increasing vigilance, reporting and cooperation. But getting this message out to an entire county of over 1 million residents is tricky. This year police looked to modernise their communication channels around the operation through digital signage.

Visual Amplification
Cheshire Police has relied on posters, news bits and website text to make people aware of Impact’s work and advice in the past. But the limitations around traditional awareness channels are clear: static paper signage is ignored, news absorption is passive and websites need proactive searching. To truly inform the community modern solutions are needed.

Digital signage overcomes these hurdles by proactively pushing vital messaging into public sightlines. As specialists in outdoor promotional tech, we were only too keen to support the Constabulary by providing gear that gave campaigns extra visibility. Our LED video boards and mobile LED trailers repeatedly broadcast police notices, appeals and guidance across hotspot zones throughout Cheshire. And advanced software even allowed tailoring appropriate messages to specific locations.

Whether warning nightlife goers around drug dealing risks in city centers or advising rural residents on cannabis cultivation spotting, displays delivered targeted prompts on protecting themselves and others. Even messaging around less immediately dangerous activities like phone scams helped raise fraud awareness protecting savings. Overall the operation reached over 30,000 people directly through sustained multimedia exposure.

Benefits of Visual Tech
This drive highlighted why visual digital communication excels assisting public service efforts vs traditional means:

• Scalable Exposure – Large, bright signage placed strategically in high traffic areas expands campaign reach far beyond existing channels
• Viewer Magnetism – Motion, color and imagery inevitably attracts more attention then static posters people filter out
• Sticking Power – Seeing warnings or guidance multiple times from different angles imprints key messages better
• Real Time Content – Updating signage instantly allows responsiveness to emerging situations that static materials lack
• Community Span – Displays place the same alerts and advice across urban and rural zones uniting messaging
• Metrics Tracking – Activity monitoring provides engagement data to refine approaches for maximum effectiveness

Of course digital options also offer operational savings through rapid reproducible display adjustments vs reprinting materials. But for police and civil programs looking to inform or motivate the public en masse, the visibility and dynamism of advanced video tech proves most impactful.

Community Protection Partnerships
Beyond assisting this single operation, our Constabulary collaboration highlights the importance of community inclusion for tackling criminal threats. While police possess special powers and access, the public provide the eyes and ears needed to suppress unlawful activity. Citizens of all sorts can positively contribute to neighbourhood safety through awareness and cooperation.

Businesses especially must recognize their stake and leverage potential against organised crime. As hubs of community activity they can display advice to workers, patrons and visitors maintaining awareness. And promoting anonymous tip lines, warning signs or reporting procedures though signage fosters participation. Even basic steps like rigorously validating suppliers prevents infiltration of black market goods.

Altogether commercial entities must embrace prosocial responsibility through active partnership. We all lose potential prosperity, investment and even staff security if criminal elements take root. So getting behind civic protective efforts makes commercial sense and ethical sense for sector stakeholders.

That could mean subsidizing tech upgrades, sharing usage data or volunteering consultation services to help modernize public safety communication. For our part Blue Sky hopes to continue supplying equipment, analytics and creative input wherever possible to support impact initiatives. And we implore other businesses to find ways to utilise their capabilities protecting communities from crime’s grip.

Looking Ahead
Based on glowing feedback over the trial period, Cheshire Constabulary is favouring further adoption of digital signage for public alerts, appeals and guidance. Going forward this may include deploying extra mobile trailers for increased coverage across the county. Additional street furniture displays being installed near transport hubs and nightlife zones is also being considered.

Refinements to content programming may allow even more location and situation specific notices as well. New integrations with existing databases could enable real time notifications on recent incidents or newly sought persons. And algorithms can help optimize timing and positioning priorities based on foot traffic habits and crime patterns.

We also aim to expand guidance support for community groups around using audio visual channels effectively. With our technical and creative expertise, we can help councils, watch initiatives and volunteer programs make the most of digital tools for their awareness efforts. This allows locals to take greater control over safeguarding neighbourhoods against threats both on and offline.

Overall we believe collaborative adoption of smart visual technology can transform crime prevention engagement across regions. The success of this Cheshire operation shows advanced signage, sound guidance and community coordination drives progress against underworld activity. It takes enlightened stakeholders working together to impact crime where it proliferates – amongst everyday streets and spaces. We’re committed to supply solutions steadily reducing its grip.