Agenda item - Review of CCTV - Briefing Paper

Agenda item

Review of CCTV - Briefing Paper

Minutes:

The CCTV and Telecare Manager presented a briefing paper on the review of the CCTV service.  During the presentation of this, the following matters were highlighted:

 

·                New legislation had been introduced which required the Council to review CCTV services to ensure they were fully compliant with legal requirements.

·                The Council had been audited twice by an external company and the CCTV services had been found to be fully compliant.

·                The Safer Bromsgrove group, a sub-committee of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership, considered any requests for new CCTV cameras and made recommendations about whether CCTV should be installed at these locations.

·                When considering whether to introduce CCTV potential alternative solutions, the scope of the surveillance and the possible impact on the privacy rights of individuals at those sites needed to be taken into account.

·                A form had been produced to enable the Council in order to capture all the data necessary to consider whether CCTV at that location would be justified and proportionate.

·                Similarly a new application form had been developed which had to be completed by those requesting CCTV for a particular site.

·                By introducing these forms the Council could adopt a consistent approach to assessing all requests for new surveillance cameras.

 

Following presentation of the briefing paper a number of points were raised by Members:

 

·                The operation of CCTV cameras at Bromsgrove Railway Station by Centro as part of a wider surveillance network for the local rail system.

·                The length of time that it took to consider requests for new CCTV cameras and how the outcomes of this review process were communicated to those who requested CCTV cameras.  In particular, Members highlighted requests for extra CCTV in Rock Hill and Hill Top wards a year ago.

·                The need for the outcomes of the Safer Bromsgrove group’s consideration of the application for CCTV in Rock Hill to be communicated to the ward Councillor.  Officers undertook to provide this information.

·                The need to report the outcomes of requests for CCTV in a timely manner in order to manage residents’ expectations.

·                The role of the Council in terms of making decisions about whether to provide additional funding to introduce new CCTV cameras.

·                The advice that had been provided separately to Members which suggested that if a CCTV camera was introduced in one location coverage would have to be withdrawn from another site.

·                The need to consider carefully any requests for additional CCTV cameras particularly when these received multi-agency support from the police, ward Councillors and local residents.

·                The potential use of CCTV to deter anti-social behaviour and crime in particular hot spots.

·                The process for evaluating the impact of CCTV at a given location.  Members were advised that there was a requirement to review existing CCTV provision and the Council used a scoring matrix for this purpose.  Further consultation was required to assess the impact on issues which could not be quantified such as fear of crime.

·                The use primarily of Council funds to support the installation and management of the CCTV system.  Members were advised that the Council could apply for grant funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) though there was no guarantee that this application would be successful.

 

At the end of the discussions Members concurred that there was a need to provide greater clarity about the process for applying for new CCTV cameras and how the outcomes of this process were communicated to applicants.  The Board agreed that this would be a suitable subject to investigate through a short sharp review and Officers were asked to draft a topic proposal form for the consideration of Members at the following meeting.

 

RESOLVED that a topic proposal form detailing potential terms of reference for a short sharp review of CCTV be produced for Members’ consideration at the following meeting of the Board.

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