The above comment from Pauline Norstrom – chairman of the British Security Industry Association’s CCTV Section – heralds the long-awaited publishing of the Home Office’s 56-page National CCTV Strategy Report. Produced in conjunction with ACPO, the document makes no less than 44 recommendations for improvements to surveillance in the UK, targeting areas such as standards, registration, inspection, enforcement, operator training, financing, technological change and police-related issues.
At first glance certain ‘wishes’ appear to be somewhat ambitious, but a good deal of what’s written makes sense.
A tad surprising is the fact that this Government missive hasn’t caused as much of a stir as the debate that raged over ‘talking CCTV’. After all, some of the content is pretty damning. Eight out of every ten images supplied to the police still don’t help to identify criminals (in particular when being scrutinised for primary identification). There may well be 4.2 million cameras operational, but there’s much uncertainty about where many of them are, and if they’re in a position to detect or prevent serious crime and/or terrorist attacks.
Seemingly, the proliferation of cameras has also presented the police with serious problems, most notably when the time comes to recover digitally-recorded evidence.
“The countless victims of crime in this country will be stunned to hear that not only can they not summon a police officer onto the streets, but also that most of the CCTV footage which should help them achieve justice is useless,” suggests Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
All key Stakeholders across the public and private sectors have a part to play in making sure CCTV is 100% effective. To its great credit, the CCTV industry – most notably through the BSIA’s involvement in the National Strategy Programme Board – is actively and keenly addressing the major issues.
Ultimately, the National CCTV Strategy Report recognises – and quite rightly so – that if CCTV is going to be truly effective in the years ahead it must retain the public’s full support. Rapidly changing technologies simply have to be embraced.
Is it time, perhaps, that the authorities paid more attention to catching criminals than monitoring traffic for income?
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