UK CCTV: Why We Need More Regulation

Do you recall that statistic devised by academics McCahill and Norris in 2002? The one that said the UK is overlooked by 4.2 million CCTV cameras?

Much of Britain has been fixated on this number ever since (a figure derived by counting those cameras present on Putney High Street in London and extrapolating upwards for a ‘guesstimate’). We’ve been consistently bombarded with hypotheses on the supposed rise of the “Surveillance State” and George Orwell’s Big Brother coming to life ever since.

Now, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has produced its own set of statistics. In a report entitled “The Picture Is Not Clear: How Many CCTV Surveillance Cameras Are There in the UK?”, the Trade Association has made a thoroughly detailed attempt to unearth current numbers.

The BSIA’s 51-page document focuses on the number of properties in the UK, floor area, and “alternative appropriate estimates”. It accounts for the number of CCTV cameras located in (for example) offices, factories, warehouses, schools, department stores, car parks, and railway stations, and those deployed for “security surveillance, related monitoring and safety aspects”. Low-, medium-, and upper-level camera figures for the UK are tabulated.

The BSIA’s minimum overall estimate for CCTV camera numbers is 4,059,000. Not far off the McCahill-Norris statistic. The mid-range calculation stands at 4,895,000 (said to be a “more accurate” representation of camera numbers) while the peak for the higher range number of cameras totals 5,935,000 (but it’s “very unlikely” the actual number of cameras is this high).

Looking beyond the statistics
According to the BSIA, camera numbers in the private sector could be outweighing those operated by the police and local authorities by a factor of somewhere around 70:1.

So the vast majority of cameras are privately owned and operated — very much contrary to popular opinion that we’re all living in a “Surveillance State”.

Private-sector companies are bankrolling the majority of the nation’s CCTV cameras because they deliver a clear ROI. These cameras are not directly available to the government and the police — they’re monitoring and protecting businesses — but they’re often called upon to yield evidential images. That being the case, strict regulation in the private sector for CCTV becomes vital.

Parliament has made a pleasing start to regulating CCTV and its operation, not least through the auspices of the Security Industry Authority and its own Public Space Surveillance licensing regime.

Is it, though, addressing what many commentators believe to be the central challenge — the extent of camera proliferation in the private sector and the need for it to be closely monitored?

As stated, evidence to help solve cases of criminality unearthed by the police service often comes from cameras stationed in the private sector, but how many times have we heard about “less than perfect” installations or accusations of generally poor CCTV management?

Are CCTV systems meeting end user needs?
The BSIA’s present mantra — that further regulation of private-sector CCTV is absolutely necessary — is to be roundly applauded.

Leaving the camera numbers to one side for now, the important issues on which this latest report touches include the following:

• Are CCTV systems genuinely “fit for purpose” (i.e. are they fully operational and recording properly)?
• Do surveillance solutions meet the needs of their end-users (around image quality, for example)?
• Are CCTV solutions installed correctly and covering the right areas?

Increasingly, more companies wish their premises to be protected by CCTV, but, at the very same time, more non-specialist installers are entering the fray and itching to grab a slice of the commercial action.

Those installers may not be up-to-date with best-practice techniques, so guidance is required. That’s why, as the BSIA succinctly puts it: “There’s a need for regulation of the minimum standard of system design, installation, and image quality.”

Such regulation will ensure the private sector provides the highest-quality video evidence possible for use by the police and the courts. A situation that’s very much for the public good.

We must never lose sight of that need, or the monumental importance of public support for CCTV.