A BSIA code of practice has been developed into a formal British Standard, covering all digital CCTV systems that record footage for use as evidence.
“Ensuring that digital CCTV footage carries sufficient weight in court is of paramount importance and is dependent on a number of factors,” said Pauline Norstrom, the BSIA’s CCTV section chairman.
Factors include the quality of images and their authenticity, the way images are stored and the method used to export them.
“The new standard should be seen as an independent benchmark for customers to look for when choosing a digital CCTV system,” Norstrom said.
“Ultimately, we want to see the same confidence in the validity of digital media in the criminal justice system as there is in VHS tape from a traditional VCR and this new standard is a significant step towards this.”
BS 8495:2007 will be formally adopted into the CCTV section’s membership criteria in the new year.
