I am beginning the process of gathering the latest information from all police forces under my jurisdiction on their use of overt surveillance camera systems.
Officially one year into my term as the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, I gave the keynote speech at the NPCC’s National CCTV Conference in Bristol recently. I took this opportunity to reflect on several trends emerging of the last …
The government has launched a consultation on proposed alterations to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. This is the first revision to the Code since its introduction in June 2013.
The Service Level Agreement (SLA) framework is a guidance document designed to help you and your organisation develop an SLA yourselves. An effective SLA is a crucial part of any partnership working arrangements between organisations. This template has been designed specifically for partnerships between relevant authorities defined at section 33(5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (local authorities and police forces) regarding the operation of surveillance camera systems.
Hello! I’m Fraser Sampson, the new Surveillance Camera Commissioner (and Biometrics Commissioner too). I came into post on 1 March and with so much going on in both the world of surveillance and biometrics, I’m sure the next few weeks and months are going to be busy, but I think this is an exciting time and I’m looking forward to the road ahead.
Earlier this year I sent a survey to LAs in England and Wales to gain a better understanding as to the extent to which they were complying with their statutory responsibilities arising from Section 33(1) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) and the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, in connection with their use of overt surveillance camera systems in public places.
In this blog the Commissioner reflects on the Court of Appeal judgment regarding the police use of automated facial recognition and what steps now need to be taken in relation to it.
In this blog the Commissioner looks at how surveillance is being used during the COVID-19 pandemic and what lessons could be learnt for the future of overt surveillance.
In this blog the Commissioner looks back over the National Surveillance Camera Strategy for England and Wales, what's been achieved and what the future might hold.
Video Surveillance Systems are operated by most Local Authorities in England and Wales and are intrinsically linked with operational policing to protect the public and ensure their safety. So how effective are they and is the cost of installing and operating those systems really worth it?