Non-compliance hits detection rates

CameraWatch responds to recent Scotland Yard report

Low crime detection blamed on compliance failures CameraWatch, the CCTV and Data Protection Act (DPA) watchdog has expressed its concerns over a Scotland Yard report that fewer than one crime is solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras in London.

It is, according to Chief Executive Gordon Ferrie, vindication of CameraWatch's claim that greater compliance by CCTV users with the DPA and Information Commissioner's Office guidelines, could lead to higher rates of crime detection and prosecution.

Since launching in 2007, CameraWatch has campaigned for greater compliance with the DPA and ICO guidelines among CCTV systems users.

Delegates attending any of the CameraWatch Forums over the last 12 months will be aware of the problems facing the police and the courts in securing convictions with the help of CCTV images.

Gordon Ferrie said: "This news from Scotland Yard does not surprise us at all. It is after all what we have been trying to highlight over the last three years.

Namely: if your CCTV system does not comply with the DPA or ICO guidelines, is not audited regularly or is operated by poorly-trained staff, the images or footage is worse than useless in a criminal prosecution.

"The CameraWatch Forums have heard from senior figures in law enforcement and government on the problems with poor quality CCTV images, poor quality systems, incorrectly-placed cameras and failure on the operator's part to comply with even the most simple DPA requirements.

"This means that any lawyer worth his or her salt can tear a case to pieces if it has to rely on CCTV from these sources.

"Of course, CCTV alone will not lead to a greater number of successful prosecutions. But when it is deployed correctly and effectively it can be a powerful piece in the evidence jigsaw that the police must put together.

"CameraWatch has campaigned for a national CCTV register that will go some way to laying down minimum standards for operating CCTV systems.

"If users had to register their system and ensure it was fully compliant with current legislation, operating properly, and recording data in a format that could be used by the police and courts, I am certain that more criminal cases involving the use of CCTV would be successful."

CameraWatch Compliance Director Paul Mackie said the Scotland Yard report makes painful reading for companies that are effectively wasting thousands of pounds on systems that look the part but fail miserably to do what they are meant to do.

He said: "In my role with CameraWatch, auditing CCTV systems, I am constantly amazed at how much companies are willing to invest in the hardware, but unwilling to invest in terms of time, training and basic compliance with the DPA and ICO guidelines.

"A simple once-yearly audit of your system will point out where you are going wrong and what needs to be done to make it fully compliant. Considering how much money these systems cost, it's small beer to make sure that your system is working effectively. "

 

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