1 Feb 2006

Show caution when making choices in CCTV, advise the authors of the latest good practice guide from The Security Institute (TSI).

Gordon Tyerman, the former Surrey Police CCTV manager, now a trainer, chaired the working party behind the guide to acquiring, deployment and use of CCTV.  Introducing the 82-page paperback - cost £25, free to TSI members - Gordon Tyerman said:  “There are hundreds of choices within the CCTV world and many people willing to help and advise you; be careful how you choose, it may cost you dearly later!”  While he acknowledged last year’s sceptical Home Office-backed report by Leicester Prof Martin Gill on the effectiveness of public space CCTV, TSI’s guide calls CCTV "one of the most effective tools to combat crime and anti-social behaviour, provided the installation, operation and management are of a high standard.”

Chapters

Chapters cover risk assessment; placing a contract; covert CCTV; designing and managing control rooms; basic CCTV system planning; transmission; civil works; and pan and tilt, moveable and dome cameras. On covert installation, the guide calls it an emotive subject, but covert is becoming more popular in the private and public sectors, the document addds.  A concealed device cannot be installed indefinitely; and needs a justified reason and (in the commercial sector) a chief exec’s authorisation.  On the case law to do with covert surveillance, it says: “An organisation has a right to defend itself, but while doing so it must show respect for an individual’s privacy. It is advisable that, before authorising the covert videoing of an individual, less intrusive methods of obtaining the desired information are applied.  Covert videoing should be the last method considered.”

 

Data dilemma

As for legal requirements, the guide points to a security manager’s dilemma under the Data Protection Act (DPA), if law enforcers or in-house investigators ask for CCTV data. The ‘data controller’ has to judge whether not providing the images would prejudice the investigation.  Many bodies, such as banks, require police to subpoena the records.  While the security manager wants good relations with law enforcers, the guide adds that a security manager by giving too much data may break the DPA. As elsewhere in the guide, there is a web link to useful advice - in this case, from the Asscoation of Chief Police Officers.  Another dilemma for the CCTV manager may come if police are in a hurry or ignorant of the need for a written request for images, as according to the DPA.  The standard storing of images for one month is not specified in the Act, the guide points out: “People store for as long as they need - no more and no less ... indeed many commercial organisations use a much reduced period of seven to ten days.”  The book also has a word of caution about contracts: a tender to a public authority, with your confidential information such as key staff, may be made public in a request under the Freedom of Information Act.  The guide suggests you agree to submit your tender in two parts: one part ‘for their eyes only’. 

Working party

Members of the working party behind the guide were TSI chairman Bill Wyllie; Chris Brogan of consultants Security International; Alistair Freeborn of Watford-based installers SDA Protec; Don Grimes of Bath-based consultants Be Prepared; Robert Rodgers of manufacturers Geutebruck; Emma Shaw of investigators Esoteric; and Derek Webster of the post regulator Postal Services Commission.  TSI in 2003 brought out a guide to the procurement and management of guarding.  TSI has in hand guides to electronic counter-measures, consultancy and security hardware; and facilities management; all as part of the institute’s aim to validate the work of security professionals, and drive up standards.