Information on CCTV
CCTV - Closed Circuit Television
The CCTV camera system in St Albans District is owned and managed by St Albans City & District Council. The day to day operation of the camera system is contracted out to a specialist company under the direction of the City & District Engineer.
The ethos of CCTV in St Albans is that it is there for the protection of the public and not as a “Big Brother” tool spying on people. As an example, the priority would always be to assist with finding a missing child or direct emergency services to an elderly person who had fallen over, rather than targeting a suspected shoplifter.
The vast majority of the public are unaware of the CCTV cameras, which work quietly in the background for their protection.
New sites for CCTV cameras are prioritised according to need based on Police evidence of crime and/or incidents and are discussed and agreed at the regular CCTV Monitoring Group meetings.
CCTV Monitoring Group
This group was formed to manage existing cameras and to ensure that a balanced view regarding proportionality and necessity is taken regarding installation of new CCTV cameras. Chaired by the City & District Engineer, the Group also includes:-
Community Support Manager, St Albans City & District Council
Community Safety Co-ordinator,
Anti-social Behaviour Co-ordinator
Anti-social Behaviour Caseworker
Licensing Officer
Neighbourhood Inspector for St Albans District, Herts Constabulary
Town Clerk, Harpenden Town Council
Business Crime Manager, SABAC (St Albans Business Against Crime)
CCTV contractor
CCTV Control Room Manager
Types of Camera
There are essentially two types of camera:-
Fully functional cameras which are linked to the CCTV control room. These may be connected by cable, wi-fi or radio link depending on the location of the camera. They are monitored 24 hours a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year. These cameras are primarily sited in St Albans City and Harpenden Town centres.
Record to disk (often known as “cluster”) cameras which are used in more outlying areas of the district where problems only occur rarely. These cameras are not monitored 24/7/365 but recordings can be downloaded from the cameras if an incident is reported at a site.
Business Crime (SABAC – St Albans Business Against Crime)
SABAC’s Shopsafe radio system in the CCTV room links member premises in St Albans City and Harpenden town centres with the CCTV control room, the Business Crime Manager, Police officers and Police Community Support Officers. Membership is open to any business or premises which is likely to experience crime or anti-social behaviour and enables them to call for swift assistance. Current members include shops, churches, the Cathedral, the City Station and the park rangers.
Code of Conduct
The CCTV operation follows a strict code of conduct and is subject to visits at any time by the Surveillance Commissioner. The Surveillance Commissioner’s most recent visit was on April 30th 2008 when it was reported that there are no concerns over the operation of the CCTV control room. The City & District Engineer, CCTV control room Manager, CCTV operators and Anti-social Behaviour officers are all Security Industry Association (SIA) trained and registered.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) permits targeted surveillance on an individual provided that surveillance is deemed necessary and proportionate. In St Albans RIPA permissions have been used to build recorded evidence relating to a small number of prolific and persistent offenders. Use of RIPA powers is also monitored by the Surveillance Commissioner.
The Council’s Anti-social Behaviour Team also have a small number of covert surveillance cameras which can be deployed (under RIPA powers) to gather evidence of persistent anti-social behaviour, neighbour harassment, graffiti, arson and other crime.
The Council's RIPA policy is given below.
Annual Report into the Council's RIPA operations
On 14 October 2008 the Council's Cabinet received an officer report on the Council's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and CCTV operations. Cabinet agreed that an Annual Report into the Council's RIPA operations would be submitted to the Community Engagement and Support Portfolio Holder and the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Internal Performance)
Traffic enforcement
St Albans’ CCTV cameras do not undertake enforcement of moving traffic offences and there are no plans to do so.
Working with the private sector
The Council budget for CCTV is limited. For this reason the CCTV Monitoring Group looks for opportunities to work with the private sector and Community Safety Partnership on jointly funded camera systems. An example might be an out of town retail park or parade of shops where the shopkeepers might work together to fund a donation towards the total cost of the scheme. Anyone interested in discussing this opportunity further should contact the City & District Engineer on 01727 819244 or email b.peers@stalbans.gov.uk
Date of last review: 08 June 2009