CCTV boasts significant support among the general public, and ‘fear of crime’ surveys demonstrate that members of the public feel safer due to its presence.
With the rapid increase in spread of CCTV playing an integral part in crime reduction – and in the wake of a report submitted by the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) lead on CCTV – it was felt there remained a pressing need to examine existing standards, procedures, training and methods of operation in order to truly maximise the potential of our surveillance infrastructure. The BSIA has been heavily involved in this review process.
National CCTV Strategy Report
The culmination of this work – itself led by a joint ACPO/Home Office research team – is now upon us with the publication of the National CCTV Strategy Report, the content of which is broadly based around ten themes. These include the need for standards in all aspects of CCTV, the police’s use of CCTV footage as evidence, emerging technologies/changing threats/new and changing priorities and financial and resource management.
Pauline Norstrom – chairman of the BSIA’s CCTV Section – comments: “The plans laid down by the National CCTV Strategy will bring major benefits to public safety, and lead to the effective reduction of crime. The BSIA has long believed that all key Stakeholders have a part to play in the effective deployment of CCTV across both the public and private sectors.
“The CCTV industry is playing a vital role through the BSIA’s involvement with the National Strategy Programme Board. For some time, we have also been working closely with the Home Office Scientific Development Branch on a number of common issues.”
Norstrom continues: “The implementation of high standards is imperative to ensure the effective use of CCTV. Consequently, the Association has been heavily involved for some years now in developing standards and Codes of Practice on – among many issues – digital video evidence, remotely-monitored, detector-activated CCTV, privacy masking, the use of CCTV with Chip and PIN and Data Protection. These documents form the cornerstone of all proposed standards and guidelines in the UK.”
Progress of the 44 recommendations in the National Strategy is extremely important if the full potential of CCTV is to be realised across a varied range of uses and public support is to be maintained. The BSIA will continue to work as part of the Programme Board to implement the plans, and ensure the continued and successful contribution of CCTV to public safety and crime prevention and detection in the UK.
