Download - CCTV Strategy for Corby Borough Council
CCTV Strategy for Corby Borough Council
Draft June 2007
Corby Borough Council CCTV Strategy
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Abstract CCTV plays a significant role in reducing crime and disorder and increasing
community safety and public reassurance as well as assisting the police in
investigating crime.
To date the CCTV system at Corby Borough Council (CBC) has resulted in
over 4000 arrests directly attributable to the CCTV system and it has been
instrumental in identifying and bringing to justice scores of offenders, including
several high profile murderers in Corby Borough.
Corby Borough Council has made a significant investment in CCTV in
conjunction with Government funding through the Single Regeneration Budget
and Home Office funding, which has resulted in the expansion from the
original 4 rented analogue cameras established in 1994 to the 86 owned
digital camera system today.
The contribution CBC’s CCTV system has made in protecting the public and
assisting the police to investigate crime has occurred despite CCTV being
developed in a piecemeal fashion with little strategic direction or control. This
approach has failed to maximise the potential of the CCTV infrastructure and
those working closely with it believe there is a need to examine existing
standards and methods of operation.
This report examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the current CCTV
system, by conducting a strategic audit of the service provision this report
develops the first CCTV strategy, a medium term strategic plan for developing
and improving CCTV to ensure the service is fit for purpose and continues to
meet the needs of all its customers.
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Contents Page
Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Tables 4 List of Appendices 5 Introduction 6 Main Body 8 Research and Analysis 15 Conclusions 21 Recommendations 24 References 32 Appendices
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List of Tables Page
Public Perception of the Effectiveness of CCTV 15 Public Awareness of New CCTV Installations 16 Local Business Crime Reduction Preferences 17 Dedicated CCTV Police Officer Resources 18 CCTV annual revenue and internal/external funding 19
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List of Appendices Appendix A Map of CCTV locations in Corby Borough
Appendix B SWOT analysis
Appendix C TOWS analysis
Appendix D PESTLE analysis
Appendix E Links to national and local Strategies and Plans
Appendix F MSC CCTV Strategy Report Recommendations
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Introduction
This report examines the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) for community
safety and crime reduction purposes in Corby Borough. Through this report the
first Corby Borough Council CCTV Strategy and recommendations for
improvement is created.
According to the Home Office (2007) there are three objectives for which CCTV is
often considered, these inform the siting and use of CCTV and are as follows: -
• To reassure the public and reduce the fear of crime. Concern about crime
or the fear of crime is often a motivation for calls from the public to install
CCTV in specific locations.
• To reduce and prevent crime by deterring potential offenders. The theory
is that potential offenders may think they may be observed and therefore
not offend. Deterrence is strongest where publicity is used when new
CCTV is installed and any deterrent or reassurance affect relies on the
perception that CCTV works. The Home Office (2007) suggests CCTV is
a deterrence for certain types of crime i.e. vehicle crime in car parks and
criminal damage, but is of limited value in reducing violence and alcohol
related crime. In some cases CCTV may displace crime to areas not
covered by CCTV.
• To act as a tool for gathering evidence in detecting crime. CCTV has an
important role in detecting crime, guiding enforcement officers and
providing evidence in court. CCTV has to be informed by police
intelligence using NIM (National Intelligence Model) and in turn has to
guide operations on the ground. In fact the Home Office (2007) suggests
correct training of staff and tasking through the police intelligence briefing
processes to monitor the right places at the right times watching for the
right people delivers results.
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It is however, important to note that CCTV is no more than one element in an
integrated approach to community safety and crime. For example, effective
management of the environment through enhanced street lighting, removal of
vegetation where appropriate to increase natural surveillance, improved physical
design of buildings such as alley gating and increased policing or guardianship of
public space all contribute to the reduction of crime.
This report examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the current CCTV
system, by conducting a strategic audit of the service provision and develops the
first Corby Borough Council CCTV strategy, a medium term strategic plan for
developing and improving CCTV to ensure the service is fit for purpose and
continues to meet the needs of all its customers. This report and
recommendations are broadly based on the following seven key themes and
examine each in detail:
• Police Use of CCTV
• Partnership Working with Public and Private Sector
• Finance and Resources
• Performance Management
• Legislation
• New Technologies and Future Issues
• Marketing and Communication
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Main Body
Corby Borough Council’s CCTV system was established in 1994 with four rented
analogue cameras, the system now has 86 cameras. The system utilises 53 BT
fibre optic transmission network circuits together with four microwave links. These
cameras are used proactively or left to run on programmed 360°patterns. Two of
the 86 CCTV cameras are mobile cameras, operating via microwave
transmission; these cameras are deployed in high crime areas to offer short to
medium term solutions to crime problems as identified by the Council and Police.
Two cameras are ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras linked
to the Driving Vehicle Licensing Association (DVLA) vehicle licence database and
Police National Computer (PNC).
Most of the cameras are situated in residential areas, located across the various
estates in the town, providing coverage of over two hundred streets (see
Appendix A for a map of CCTV camera locations). All of the council owned
cameras are monitored twenty four hours a day seven days a week, with two
operators monitoring from 9am until 5pm and single cover from 5pm until 9am.
The monitoring of the system is contracted out to a private security company -
Remploy Management Services. There are currently nine members of staff: eight
CCTV Operators and one CCTV Supervisor. The CCTV Supervisor, who has a
hands on role as part of the nine-person team monitoring the cameras, carries
out the day to day running of the control room (i.e. staff supervision, image
requests and co-ordinating repairs).
Corby Borough Council’s Community Safety Officer has overall responsibility for
managing the CCTV system which includes managing the finances and
procurement of the staff, equipment and maintenance contracts, the remaining
half of their role is to co-ordinate anti social behaviour activities on behalf of the
authority and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP).
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• Police Use of CCTV
The CCTV staff work closely with the police, providing intelligence used in the
detection and prevention of crime and disorder, helping to inform and direct
officers on the ground and providing video evidence usable in court. Liaison
between the CCTV and police control room at Police Headquarters in
Northampton is achieved via a direct fibre optic link to a spot monitor located in
the police control room as well as a dedicated phone line for direct
communications between operators. The CCTV control room staff also have a
police airwave radio allowing direct contact with operational police officers. The
close working relationships between the police and CCTV staff has led to many
police surveillance operations carried out within the CCTV control room and has
led to numerous arrests and several commendations by Northamptonshire Police.
The police regularly conduct APNR operations to apprehend travelling criminals
who often drive without car tax, insurance and valid MOT.
• Partnership Working with the Public and Private Sector
The Council CCTV system monitors a significant number of public sector and
private sector premises, including many of the Borough Council facilities (Lodge
Park Leisure Centre, West Glebe Park Pavilion, Neighbourhood Centres and the
One Stop Shop at Grosvenor House). Nearly all of the town’s public houses,
night clubs and takeaways are covered by CCTV as are the main shopping
areas: Phoenix Parkway; Morrisons; and most of the residential shopping areas.
At night the 16 town centre based Land Securities owned cameras are
transmitted through the Council’s CCTV control room and CBC CCTV operators
proactively monitor the town centre in an addition to all 86 council owned
cameras.
Close working between CBC CCTV and shops in the Borough through the shop
watch radio scheme forms part of the Corby Retail and Business Initiative Against
Crime (CORBIAC). CCTV operators play a vital role in making the town shopping
areas more secure by warning security and shop staff when known offenders
enter the area, by enforcing the Retail Exclusion Scheme and by detecting crime.
CCTV plays an integral role in the Corby Pubwatch scheme by identifying
potential problems and using the radios to communicate with and warn security
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staff and licensees about known alcohol related/ violent offenders near their
premises and providing direct liaison with the police control room staff when
public disorder incidents occur.
CBC CCTV operators work closely with staff at Kettering CCTV Control Centre
(monitoring CCTV in Kettering town and the A6 towns and East Northants District
Council main towns) sharing information about travelling criminals. Regular
liaison also takes place with Northampton’s CCTV control room which provides
coverage of Northampton Borough, Wellingborough Borough and Daventry
Districts. Opportunities for a countywide system have been explored by the police
in the past which whilst worth exploring appear to be a very long way off given the
current investment and disparate ownership, political sensitivity to the issue along
with the costs of moving the infrastructure and fibre optic cabling.
• Finance and Resources
CCTV is an expensive crime prevention measure when compared with other
crime prevention initiatives. The expansion of the current CCTV system is limited
by resource constraints, both capital installation costs of cameras and the
supporting infrastructure, and the additional revenue implications of costs of staff
necessary to monitor additional cameras mean that the scope for increasing the
number of cameras is limited. As a discretionary service provided by the
authority there is pressure to make significant year on year efficiency savings and
increase income generated by the service. The CCTV service is under increasing
pressure to reduce the significant overheads which currently cost £383,000 per
annum. However, CBC acknowledges the value and contribution made by CCTV
towards reducing crime and improving community safety and has recently
upgraded the entire control room equipment at a total capital cost of £131,840.
• Performance Management
Each month the CCTV supervisor provides a statistical analysis of the previous
month’s activities; this includes a summary of each incident, a list of arrests per
camera, the total number of arrests and the police response to incidents.
Comparisons are made for the same month compared to the previous year as
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well as accumulative statistics for the year to date. To date there have been over
4000 arrests directly attributable to CCTV, with an average of 50 arrests a month.
• Legislation
Corby Borough Council operates a strict Code of Practice that is modelled on the
Home Office approved code. This covers all aspects of CCTV operation including
the operator’s use of the cameras and makes due regard to privacy issues as
most of the Borough Council’s cameras are located in residential areas and
makes sure the CCTV system is operated in compliance with Data Protection,
Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information and Regulatory Powers Act
legislation. In addition, all CCTV staff are fully trained and qualified in
accordance with Security Industry Association standards.
• New Technologies and Future Issues
The introduction of a digitalised CCTV system in 2007 could provide opportunities
for real benefits if the technology is harnessed correctly. Improving the quality of
CCTV images will support the development of current, complimentary
technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and future
technologies such as facial recognition. The new system will also allow for the
expansion of the existing 86 camera system to up to 124 cameras.
• Marketing and Communication
Corby Borough Council does not invest much time or effort into CCTV marketing
activities, this is due to the system having until recently been antiquated and with
no capacity to add new cameras to the system. However, with the new digitalised
and “state of the art” control room equipment, there is now much scope to
promote and market the service and utilise spare capacity to monitor other public
or private sector CCTV systems.
Communication with key stakeholders has traditionally involved letter drops to
residents in areas where new CCTV installations are intended. Consultation has
tended to be limited in scope and could be developed to increase both public
reassurance and act as a deterrence.
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Strategic Audit Assessment
This report is concerned with undertaking a strategic audit to aid the preparation
of a strategic CBC CCTV plan based on the conclusions drawn from a detailed
strategic audit of the service, consideration of existing related strategies and
plans, and analysis of existing CCTV secondary research. These key processes
form the basis of the strategic assessment, from which conclusions are drawn
and 44 recommendations for CCTV service improvement made. The three audit
frameworks are highlighted as follows:
• SWOT Analysis
This process outlines the internal strengths and weaknesses of the CCTV
service, the external opportunities and threats and is detailed in Appendix B. The
SWOT analysis identified strengths in terms of both leadership and experience
and knowledge of existing CCTV staff, robust procurement procedures in place
with good contractual arrangements for maintenance, equipment and CCTV staff.
Financial systems are closely managed and year on year efficiency savings are
made in line with Council and Government requirements. The new digital control
room offers significant scope for development both in terms of income generation
and service delivery improvements. However, current weaknesses include:
communication and marketing activities; engagement with key stakeholders;
performance management arrangements; and many of the existing cameras
need replacing. There are many opportunities for developing the service now the
control room has been upgraded through expansion and diversification of
services offered (key holder and alarm monitoring), developers funding CCTV
installation on new developments as part of planning (s.106) agreements and
closer working with public and private sector partners to increase CCTV
monitoring and integration. Key threats to the service are mainly financial as the
service is discretionary, and any change in political administration at either a local
or national level could place additional pressure to reduce costs on non statutory
council services. The long term future of the control centre base is unclear with
Grosvenor House to be decamped within the next 3-5 years leading to future
operational and financial implications upon CCTV service delivery including the
need to relocate the signal mast to another suitable location.
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• TOWS Analysis
The TOWS analysis illustrated in Appendix C, offers a number of options to
address the weaknesses, threats and build on the strengths and opportunities of
the CCTV service identified within the SWOT analysis were identified. Firstly the
need to maintain and develop areas of strength including: staffing experience and
expertise; procurement and financial procedures; and the state of the art control
room. To develop current areas of weakness by developing a marketing plan,
increase stakeholder in service development, improve CCTV performance
management and implement a phased programme to replace/ upgrade existing
cameras. To embrace opportunities to work collaboratively with both public and
private sector partners, to use spare capacity to develop and expand the range of
services provided and to maximise income generation opportunities. Finally to
minimise threats by reducing the financial burden of the service on the authority
through income generation and to undertake an options appraisal to assess
suitable alternative locations for a new CCTV control room and signal mast.
• PESTLE Analysis
The PESTLE analysis as depicted in Appendix D looks at the external political,
economical, sociological, technological, legal and environmental factors affecting
CBC CCTV by identifying changes that are occurring and the impact that will
have on the service and the authority. In addition, to the key factors already
mentioned within the SWOT and TOWS analysis this highlighted that the service
needs to undertake a review of existing service charges to ensure that services
are not undercharged/ valued and to ensure costs do not deter those who would
most benefit the service. Marketing and communication activities and information
must reflect and reach out to the emerging economic migrant population from
former eastern European countries and the service must embrace innovative
CCTV technologies whilst considering opportunities to reduce the overall capital
and revenue costs to the authority.
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Links with national and local Strategies and Plans
In the development of this report, strategy and recommendations, consideration
of a number of key national and local strategies and plans has been made and
wherever possible and when compatible with stakeholder and research analysis
these strategy themes have been integrated into the report and
recommendations, a summary of the key local and national strategies can be
found in Appendix E.
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Research and Analysis
As a part of the strategic audit, an analysis of related research was undertaken.
From the research it is clear that CCTV consultation and the findings from this are
limited in terms of detailed stakeholder views on the CCTV service provided locally.
Moreover, at the time of writing no national research exists to complement local
evidence providing an overarching national perspective. In addition to local
stakeholder views, research had been conducted by the Public CCTV Managers
Association and allows for comparisons with other public sector owned CCTV
systems for the first and only time. A brief overview the research and the results are
highlighted as follows:
Priority Research as a part of the Crime and Disorder Audit (2004)
Commissioned by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership to undertake public
consultation as part of the Crime Audit process; Priority Research developed a
questionnaire which was sent to a random sample of 2000 households in Corby
Borough. The survey yielded a very poor response rate of 6.65% (133), however,
despite its limitations, survey respondents were asked two specific questions about
CCTV as the following charts illustrate:
Public Perception Of The Effectiveness Of CCTV
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Ineffective Fairly Ineffective Neither FairlyEffective Very Effective
Preventing Crime Helping You Feel Safe
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The results are encouraging in that the majority of respondents feel that CCTV is
collectively fairly or very effective in preventing crime and helping people feel safe.
However, when asked about new camera installations, only just over half of those
were aware of new installations, as illustrated in the pie chart below:
At the time the survey was conducted a major new cluster of cameras had just been
installed at Phoenix Parkway, which had attracted widespread local media coverage,
the results suggest room for improvement with CCTV communication and marketing
activities.
CORBIAC Business Crime Survey (2005)
Undertaken as part of the consultation phase of the last Crime and Disorder Audit,
all 1200 local businesses were sent a survey asking for their concerns about and
experiences of crime and disorder, in particular the businesses were asked about
what they would like to be done to improve community safety and reduce crime and
disorder. Again response rates were very poor with only 41 surveys returned
(3.42%) and at best but the results provide only a flavour of local business
viewpoints. However, despite its limitations, half of the businesses stated they would
like improved video camera surveillance along with faster police response and
security patrols as businesses viewed these measures as effective ways of reducing
crime as illustrated in the table overleaf:
Public Awareness Of New CCTV Installations
52%
48%YesNo
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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Faster PoliceResponse
CCTV CrimePrevention
Advice
SecurityPatrols
Local Businesses Crime Reduction Preferences
Local businesses suggested using their own premises for installing mobile CCTV to
deal with short-term crime issues and the need to integrate Borough system with
existing private sector owned systems as well as the need for private sector CCTV
systems to be mapped.
Public CCTV Managers Association Research (2005)
The Public CCTV Managers Association (PCMA) undertook research during the
early part of 2005 in an attempt to compare local authority CCTV systems including
equipment, staffing, performance management and financial arrangements across
the country. The self assessment survey consisting of 60 questions was completed
by only 16 authorities, ranging from a small local authority CCTV system with 67
cameras to a Metropolitan Borough system with 567 cameras. Whilst not
representative of all the 107 PCMA members, it provides a snapshot of other local
authority CCTV systems and allows some comparison and the ability to benchmark
the service provision for the first time. Key areas of interest for this report were
responses relating to police use of CCTV, private and public sector partnership
working including services offered in addition to CCTV monitoring and new
technologies. Each of these themes is discussed in more detail as overleaf:
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• Police Use of CCTV
Of the sixteen systems the average control room had the equivalent to 1 full-time
dedicated CCTV police officer, however, rates varied tremendously with half of all
local authority control rooms alike Corby having no dedicated police resources and
generally the larger systems having more police resources.
CCTV Police Officer Resources
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0 0.5 1 2 3 4
No. of Full Time Police Officers
No. of CCTV Centres
With regards to communication and links with the police, 50% of the local authority
CCTV systems had direct video link with Police Control rooms and all 16 systems
had a direct telephone and with 13 of the 16 respondents having Airwave radio
contact with the police, although 5 of these (including Corby) were not allowed to
use the Airwave system in a proactive manner (i.e. they were not able to
communicate directly with police officers attending incidents). At the time the survey
was undertaken ANPR was still a very new technology and 9 of the respondents did
not utilise ANPR, the remaining 7 (including Corby) had ANPR cameras with
Bradford having 22 ANPR cameras.
• Partnership Working with Public and Private Sector
With reference to working with the public and private sector, 2 questions elicited
relevant information, firstly other services provided in addition to CCTV and secondly
whether any of the systems monitored privately owned car parks. The findings
demonstrated the majority (9) did not provide other services and of the 7 that did, 3
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CCTV systems monitored just 1 intruder alarm for their own council, 1 monitored 2
council intruder alarms and of the remaining 3 systems, Bradford monitored 3
intruder alarms and 82 fire alarms, North Lincolnshire supervised 173 local authority
intruder and 82 fire alarms and the Kingston Upon Hull (the largest scheme)
monitored 250 council intruder alarms, was the key holder for 350 council buildings
and also monitored 150 local authority fire alarms. The majority (12) did not provide
CCTV monitoring services for private car parks. Of the 4 that did, Sedgemoor and
Corby monitored 1, Chesterfield monitored 2 and Bradford monitored 4 privately
owned car parks.
• Finance and Resources
Annual income and revenue funding (both internal and external) varied widely
amongst the responses. However, this in part was broadly commensurate with the
size of the system, with the larger systems generating the highest costs and largest
incomes, for example, Kingston Upon Hull Council with 567 cameras, annual
revenue costs in 2004/5 were £1.2 million and £757K external income and £440K
internal income generated mainly through alarm and key holder services. The
variation in annual costs and internal/ external funding is illustrated as follows:
CCTV Annual Revenue & Internal/External Funding
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Local Authority CCTV Systems
£000's
Annual Revenue CostExternal IncomeInternal Income
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• New Technologies
All systems were heavily reliant on British Telecom fibre-optic cabling for transmitting
images between the camera and control centre, a few councils had installed their
own fibre cables, used ISDN lines and the majority of systems (11) also used either
microwave and/or radio wave transmissions for mobile cameras.
MSC Consultancy Plan (2005)
In 2005, CBC employed the services of MSC Consultancy, a specialist CCTV
consultant to conduct an audit of the system, to assess future CCTV and control
room requirements and to oversee the procurement of control room and
maintenance contracts. As a part of this work, MSC undertook an analysis of the
current control room management, operational arrangements and provided a
detailed options assessment of the equipment, control room, maintenance and
staffing contractual arrangements. The report identified a number of areas where the
council was spending money unnecessarily. In total 33 recommendations were
made to improve the efficiency of the CCTV system (see Appendix F for more
details) and many of the recommendations to streamline procedures to prevent
similar occurrences have since been adopted, the most significant and most recent
being the replacement of the analogue control room with a digital system. Those
recommendations that have not already been adopted as standard procedures have
been integrated into the recommendations contained within this report.
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Conclusions
CCTV is one tool, which is used to combat both crime and the fear of crime. Its
service is generally valued by those who benefit from its provision, with the
exception of offenders caught by CCTV evidence. However, CCTV has limitations
and its suitably must be assessed and its implementation considered with other
preventative measures and is in accordance with the guiding principles of the use
of CCTV within Corby Borough.
The CCTV system in Corby has many strengths and opportunities including the
expertise and knowledge of staff, a new digital control room, robust procurement
and financial procedures in place. Through regeneration the system has the
ability to expand to cover more of the town and outlying villages. There also many
weaknesses and threats with the system mainly involving limited finances and the
long term uncertainties over the control room and signal mast location. This
section provides a summary of the key findings of the strategic audit process
within each of the key report themes as follows:
• Police Use of CCTV
Research has shown the police value the provision, certainly other stakeholders
perceive the police to be the key beneficiaries but are seen by many to contribute
little towards its costs. Research conducted by the PCMA suggests other police
forces contribute more towards their CCTV systems than Northamptonshire
Police provides. The police do not place the same value on CCTV as other
forensic disciplines they use.
The police needs to review its approach to CCTV and establish the operational
processes and management structure that will ensure it makes better use of
CCTV’s surveillance capacity. Performance standards will produce quantifiable
data allowing the effectiveness of CCTV evidence to be judges and integration of
CCTV into the policing function will allow for intelligence to be shared with those
responsible for monitoring the images.
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• Partnership Working with Public and Private Sector
There is a need for a multi agency approach to CCTV; this extends further than
just local authority CCTV systems. The private sector also needs to be drawn in
as a large number of CCTV systems are privately owned. There is the need to
keep abreast of developments by liasing with the private sector to provide an
integrated CCTV service.
Partnership working with both public and private sector partners does take place,
however, this undertaken in a disparate and piecemeal manner. There is room
for improvement in this area and with the installation of the new CCTV control
room there is substantial scope for increasing and developing CCTV and related
services but it requires the authority to recognise that it will require dedicated time
and resources to deliver the potential benefits. Comparisons against other local
authority systems show that many of the larger ones have developed a diverse
range of products.
• Finance and Resources
There are a number of demands for additional CCTV cameras, but limited
resources to increase the number of cameras and as a discretionary service and
funding for CCTV causes some concern. The system is set up and controlled by
CBC yet benefits many including the police and the wider criminal justice system.
CCTV impacts significantly on community safety, which is a statutory obligation
for a number of organisations. There is therefore a desire for contribution towards
the running costs from these benefiting partners.
Comparisons against other local authorities CCTV systems suggests we could
significantly increase the amount of income generated both internally and
externally through the provision of additional services, as some systems are
financially sustainability. Indeed CBC recognises the importance of reducing
annual revenue costs through efficiency savings and increased income
generation. It is recognised that key beneficiaries not yet contributing towards the
system should pay towards the annual running costs and a review of existing
funding arrangements and monitoring costs is required.
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• Performance Management
Benchmarking against other systems is limited, however, research indicates that
improvements are required in performance management. The current CCTV
procedures have evolved in a disparate way and are neither effective (fulfils
corporate customer satisfaction and corporate objectives) nor efficient in
delivering what the customer wants in the most efficient way (least cost, best
quality and use of resources and in optimum speed). The service needs to focus
on customer CCTV needs and improve to provide the best service for them
(Hannagan, 1995).
• Legislation
CCTV is covered by a wide variety of legislation; and it is the responsibility of the
council to ensure that all relevant legislation is strictly adhered to through the
implementation of the CCTV Code of Practice. The Code of Practice needs to be
reviewed and procedures for public requests for images need to be made clear.
• New Technologies and Future Issues
The CCTV system does use some innovative technologies and practices but
needs to keep abreast of technological advancements in the field whilst
considering opportunities to increase income and reduce the overall costs to the
authority whilst continually improving the service performance. The issue of
finding a new control room and signal mast location poses a significant financial
and operational hurdle to be overcome in the medium term.
• Marketing and Communication
Marketing and communication activities are fairly limited at the present time and
needs to improve along side the business development. Stakeholder awareness
is limited, yet can increase perceptions of effectiveness and deterrence.
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Recommendations
Essentially the CBC CCTV Strategy provides an overarching strategic framework
identifying the council’s CCTV objectives and priorities, based on detailed
stakeholder analysis and good practice from other local authorities. The CCTV
Strategy mission is:
“to provide an effective and efficient service which provides a
physical presence and deterrence to assist in reducing crime, the
fear of crime and bring offenders to justice in Corby Borough.
The vision within the CCTV strategy is for Corby residents and businesses to
benefit from a 24/7 monitoring service that includes CCTV, alarms monitoring,
community alarms, key holding and other related services. The service should
cover the council and its partners and with public and private sector investment in
management time and resources, could be largely self financing. Local credibility
and recognition of the services provided should be so high that local businesses
be keen to buy in the service, making full use of any spare capacity.
To help CBC help achieve this ambitious vision, the CCTV Strategy must have an
action plan to ensure that the document aims and objectives are implemented via
actions that are measured, monitored and evaluated. The action plan will include
activities that are SMART, in that they are: Specific; Measurable; Achievable;
Realistic and Time bound.
The next stage of this work will be in the form of the implementation phase which
will prioritise and develop the recommendations. The CBC staff and police
responsible for delivering the actions will be involved in the development stage to
ensure ownership and the Strategy and actions will need to be communicated
effectively to all stakeholders. Key to the success of the CCTV Strategy will be
the establishment of the overarching CCTV Board that co-ordinates the activity
and ensures the co-operation and agreement that is vital if the Strategy is to be
implemented successfully.
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This section of the report highlights specific recommendations for action to
improve the authority’s CCTV service. The recommendations contained within
this section represent a significant effort for all those involved with CCTV.
Progress in these areas is extremely important if CBC is to realise the full
potential of CCTV in Corby Borough and receive the support of all key
stakeholders. Specifically the CCTV strategy includes a mixture of short-term
and longer term activities which are based on the following seven themes:
o Police Use of CCTV
o Partnership Working with Public and Private Sector
o Finance and Resources
o Performance Management
o Legislation
o New Technologies and Future Issues
o Marketing and Communication
• Police Use of CCTV
The police are one of the key stakeholders from the service and are the key
benefactor from the service, yet their involvement with performance management
and service delivery is currently limited, to improve this, the following
recommendations are made:
1. Northamptonshire Police to develop a model for managing the recovery,
analysis and investigation of CCTV evidence.
2. Appropriate resources and training for CCTV evidence recovery, analysis and
investigation should be given.
3. CCTV ownership and links to existing forensic disciplines to be determined,
performance standards to be developed.
4. Protocols for the use of Airwave radio to be developed creating direct
communication and sharing of intelligence between police and CCTV staff.
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5. Protocols to be developed that required the police to provide feedback to
CCTV managers as to the operational usefulness of CCTV images.
6. Establish the basic network infrastructure to facilitate the connection of digital
CCTV systems to the network.
7. Northamptonshire Police to consider making regular financial contributions
towards the costs of the local authority owned CCTV systems.
• Partnership Working with Public and Private Sector
Partnership working is integral to the effectiveness of CBC owned system; the
service already works in partnership with the local businesses including
CORBIAC and Pubwatch members and many other commercial and domestic
property developers. This objective aims to continue to develop this area of work
to continue to reduce crime and improve community safety in Corby Borough.
8. CCTV to become an integral part of any new development, linking CCTV into
general planning considerations and maximising funding through S106
planning agreements.
9. To offer support and advice regarding the provision of permanent or stand
alone CCTV systems to retail, commercial and domestic properties to deter
crime and enhance the detection of crime.
10. Extend the remit of CCTV to monitor railway and where possible on board
buses. Extending to car parks, civic developments, stadiums, arenas and
other areas of public convenience thus creating a hub for public space CCTV.
11. Ensure the Community Safety Officer is aware of major CCTV purchases
within the Borough to consider integration/ compatibility for CBC monitoring
and the opportunity to maximise potential monitoring fee contribution.
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• Finance and Resources
The CCTV system has to demonstrate value for money by improving the current
system equipment and performance whilst maintaining and ultimately reducing
the financial costs to the authority. The vision is to create a service which breaks
even through income generation. This will be achieved through the following
activities:
12. To invest in current CCTV management capacity to create a full-time CCTV
Manager position to develop business opportunities (to take advantage of the
income opportunities offered will require investment in additional equipment,
staff and marketing).
13. To identify and apply for internal (Invest To Save and Capital bids) and
external funding streams (Safer and Stronger Communities and Basic
Command Unit funds) to improve the current CCTV system.
14. To identify CCTV efficiency savings so that CCTV provision can be
maintained and developed at no extra cost and potentially reduced costs year
on year to the council.
15. Maximise contributions from beneficiaries of the scheme in the public and
private sectors. Specifically to explore contributions from the police, voluntary
contributions from local business and local authority housing rents.
16. Review all existing CCTV monitoring agreements and associated charges
with the view to increase the income streams.
17. Gain financial support from licensees under entertainment licensing
arrangements.
18. Combine enterprises to reduce cabling and transmission costs and sharing
design and installation costs with private sector developers.
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19. Use spare CCTV capacity to monitor public/ private sector premises where
an income may be generated, these may include: Primary Schools;
Secondary Schools; Youth Clubs; Libraries; Health Centres and Leisure
Centres.
20. Pursue private sponsorship of CCTV installations (with acknowledgement on
CCTV signage).
21. Conduct a feasibility study into the use of CCTV poles for telecom aerials as
a form of income generation.
22. Develop CCTV into an alarm monitoring and key holding service, monitoring
alarms from Council buildings and ultimately other public sector and
potentially private buildings.
23. Work towards integrating the Borough and Town Centre (Land Securities)
CCTV and other private sector and public sector CCTV systems within the
Borough.
24. Consider the use of CCTV to assist in enforcement of decriminalised parking
enforcement and Bylaw enforcement.
25. CCTV monitoring via mobile cameras of private premises e.g. construction
sites and provide an electronic patrolling of retail and business parks.
26. Pursue lone worker monitoring for CBC staff and potentially other agency/
private business staff as a form of income generation.
• Performance Management
CCTV performance and customer satisfaction needs to be measured in a
systematic manner, and reviewed and continuously improved. By adopting a
Quality First approach to operating all aspects of its CCTV service provision
would reduce the overall CCTV costs to the authority and demonstrating Best
Corby Borough Council CCTV Strategy
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Value and value for money as well as increasing customer satisfaction, this will
be achieved through the following activities:
27. Development of a CCTV Board on behalf of CBC and Corby CDRP to
oversee its development and performance.
28. Key Performance Indicators should be included as part of the Service Area
Performance Plan and include the following:
o No. of arrests
o No. of police operations
o No. of incidents filmed
o No. of evidence review visits by Police
o No. of evidence requests from the police
o How useful the CCTV has been in the investigation
o The number of occasions CCTV material has been used in court
o How useful the CCTV has been at court
o Other requests for evidence
29. Ensure that the monitoring of the system is effective and that all operators are
fully trained to meet the legal and operational requirements including
competence with the new technologies used and understanding of the
performance management procedures established. Work related performance
and role competencies to be regularly reviewed as part of the Employee
Development Scheme and as part of the drive for continuous improvement.
30. Review the location and purpose of all CCTV cameras. Review all the CCTV
cameras in public space use, detailing their purpose and establishing if they
are fit for purpose.
31. Ensure that the maintenance of the CCTV system is kept to the highest
standards at all times.
32. Ensure that all new installations include anti-climb frames and anti-ram
bollards surrounding the pole to protect any potential damage to the camera.
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33. Manage vegetation and overgrown foliage around cameras to ensure views
are not obstructed.
34. Develop a Risk Management Plan to identify potential implications of system
failure and emergency planning.
• Legislation
CCTV is covered by a wide variety of legislation; this objective is concerned with
ensuring that all relevant legislation is strictly adhered to through the
implementation of the CCTV Code of Practice.
35. To ensure that CBC CCTV complies with all relevant legislation, with
particular reference to the Data Protection Act, Human Rights Act, Freedom of
Information Act and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and the CCTV
Code of Practice is reviewed on a regular basis.
36. CCTV should be considered in planning regulations and licensing, therefore
satisfying inspection, regulation and enforcement by capturing CCTV within
the licensing laws that currently exist.
• New Technologies/ Future Issues
This objective is concerned with developing the CCTV system using innovative
technologies and practices to keep abreast of technological advancements in the
field whilst considering opportunities to increase income and reduce the overall
costs to the authority and continually improving the service performance. The
objective is also concerned with keeping abreast of future or emerging issues that
may impact upon the CCTV service.
37. Implement a phased programme to replace/upgrade existing cameras.
38. Expansion of the system must carefully consider and be determined by crime
figures, incident reports, available funding and through detailed consultation
with all key stakeholders.
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39. Wherever possible utilise COFDM and microwave transmission methods to
ensure no added revenue costs to the CCTV system.
40. Additional external cameras must have night-time vision to maximise camera
performance and usage.
41. Consider future control room location (when Grosvenor House is decamped)
and promote the development of a monitoring suite capable of incorporating the
existing CCTV monitoring service and potential co-location of the council’s out
of hours services including handling all council telephone calls and community
alarms with the potential for further integration with co-located community safety
team to improve intelligence sharing and joint tasking.
42. Scanning equipment and routine scanning of relevant documents to be
introduced as part of the CCTV procedure, contributing towards the
Governments E-Gov targets and reducing administration, documentation
storage and general bureaucracy.
• Marketing and Communication
Marketing and communication activities are fairly limited at the present time but
the following activities are aimed at improving this area of work:
43. Develop a CCTV Communications and Marketing Plan which includes:
o Marketing Material for potential new business/ income generation.
o Regular news stories about the deterrent potential and successes of
the CCTV system through press conferences for major new stories or
announcements, press briefings, press receptions and involve media
representatives in aspects of CCTV.
o CBC CCTV Internet sites to be redeveloped and maintained.
44. Consultation with local residents and businesses about proposed camera
installation and potential rent/ rate increases prior to installation – need to sell
the notion, which requires more than a letter drop.
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References Hannagan, T. (2002) Mastering Strategic Management, 2002, Palgrave.
Hannagan, T. (1998) Management Concepts and Practices, 2nd edition,
Pitman Publishing.
Home Office (2007) National CCTV Strategy Project, Draft Report – Version
B, February 2007, Home Office.
Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (1997) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and
Cases, 4th edition, Prentice Hall.
Mullins, L. J. (1999) Management and Organisational Behaviour, 5th edition,
Prentice Hall.
http://www.corby.gov.uk/an/wc.exe.AO2/Corbyimages/onecorby.pdf.