Despite recent claims by civil liberties organisation Big Brother Watch that “there remains little evidence to suggest further investment in CCTV will directly reduce crime”, public spending on CCTV can be worthwhile to ensure peoples’ safety – as a recent example from North Wales demonstrates.
Wrexham’s town centre CCTV system has helped the local police service make a staggering 25,000 arrests since its installation, almost 10,000 of those in the past five years alone.
The network of 90 cameras, which mostly covers the town centre and other trouble spots, has helped secure the arrests and convictions of murderers, hooligans, shoplifters, thieves and those guilty of assault.
Reports also estimate that about 40% of all arrests in and around Wrexham are now made with the help of the CCTV system.
Pauline Norstrom, chairman of the BSIA’s CCTV Section, explained: “Time and again the police take advantage of CCTV images to reconstruct events, identify offenders and make high-profile calls for public support in their enquiries.”
Norstrom added: “While the Big Brother Watch report argues that money currently spent on expanding CCTV networks would be better used by employing extra police on the beat, a more realistic comparison would have taken into account the anticipated operational life of the CCTV system, thereby dramatically reducing the number of police officers that could be employed using the equivalent funds.”
Continuing the theme, Norstrom explained: “The BSIA does not believe that the argument for CCTV goes hand-in-hand with advocating a ‘Big Brother’ culture, but does of course appreciate the need for effective checks and balances on CCTV to ensure that it’s being used effectively. To this end, the BSIA continues to play an active role in the promotion of CCTV Best Practice and has welcomed the Government’s consultation on its Protection of Freedoms Bill.”
CCTV: helping to cut crime
Real-life examples from across the country show that, when employed responsibly and monitored effectively, CCTV systems can make a genuine difference to crime reduction.
Recently, Debra Smith (from Greenhithe in Kent) won the Best Use of Technology Award in the South East regional round of the BSIA’s Security Personnel Awards 2012 for her effective use of CCTV in helping police convict criminals.
On 23 January last year, a theft was reported at a store in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in North Kent. Having conducted a number of enquiries by analysing CCTV footage as well as making use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology, Securitas officer Smith was able to identify a suspect vehicle.
Using her own initiative, Smith began a full-scale search of the parking area to locate the car while monitoring the movements of one of the offenders whom she recognised from CCTV footage. Smith then closed off the car park exit, making sure there were no available exit routes for the vehicle or the gang.
John Naughton of Securitas Security Services (UK) commented: “Debra’s actions on the day were truly outstanding. The balancing of CCTV monitoring and the co-ordination of police liaison require great skill. As a direct result of Debra’s actions the police recovered a considerable amount of stolen goods. Moreover, the offenders were charged, remanded and subsequently convicted.”
Sergeant James Kay, from the Bluewater Policing Team, fully endorsed Smith’s nomination for the BSIA award, and added: “It’s no exaggeration to say that without Debra’s involvement the offenders would not have been caught and the stock wouldn’t have been recovered.”
The BSIA would like to thank Camberford Law plc – specialist insurance brokers to the security industry – for its continued support of the Security Personnel Awards which the company has sponsored since their inception 14 years ago.
For more information about the BSIA’s Security Personnel Awards – or to find out more about the Association – access the website.
Training Providers Section welcomes three new members
The newly-formed Training Providers Section of the BSIA has welcomed three new principal members.
The Security Training School, Tavcom and Beyond Basics Training were all presented with their membership certificates by Trevor Elliott (the BSIA’s director of manpower and membership services) at the recent section meeting held within the New Cavendish Club in Marble Arch, London.
Elliott explained: “The BSIA’s Training Providers Section is extremely ambitious in its objectives. Its members are committed to working with fellow training providers, colleges, security companies, trade organisations and the Government to drive standards, increase professionalism and, ultimately, improve the standards of training offered in the security sector.”
He added: “We’re delighted to welcome three new members to the Training Providers Section and look forward to offering them – and the section as a whole – our wholehearted support in achieving their goals.”
For more information about the BSIA’s Training Providers Section visit the dedicated web pages
The Big Issue: BSIA shares information destruction Best Practice at end user event
The importance of meeting European standards for data security and ensuring the secure destruction of private information was highlighted in a BSIA presentation at an information destruction-themed event hosted by a BSIA member on 23 February.
Entitled ‘Staying secure: delivering on information, destruction and data protection’, the event was held at The Law Society in London where attendees – end users from a variety of industry sectors – heard about the importance of keeping their information secure throughout the disposal process.
Daren Wood, membership manager at the BSIA, delivered an engaging presentation on the importance of complying with European standard EN 15713 (which provides organisations with recommendations for the management and control of confidential material to ensure it’s disposed of securely).
Wood reminded delegates to beware of companies that only claim to work to the standard, stating that the only way to ensure complete confidence in the data collector was to “request sight of the UKAS ISO9001 which incorporates EN 15713.”
Significant impact on data protection policy
Chairman of the BSIA’s Information Destruction Section, Anthony Pearlgood, agrees.
“An organisation’s choice of information destruction supplier has a significant impact on the effectiveness of its data protection policy,” stressed Pearlgood. “As the Trade Association representing the UK’s private security sector, the BSIA is ideally placed to help any organisation find a reliable supplier that conforms to all the latest British and European standards relating to information destruction.”
As part of its members’ commitment to keeping up-to-date with industry developments, the BSIA’s Information Destruction Section will be hosting its third annual ID conference and exhibition on 30 May in Birmingham.
The event will facilitate the sharing of Best Practice among suppliers and service providers within the information destruction industry.
You can find out more about booking delegate places or exhibition space by visiting the Events page of the BSIA’s website.
Amanda Beesley is PR and marketing communications manager at the British Security Industry Association