ACPO comment on CCTV

Responding to media comment on the effectiveness of CCTV, Graeme Gerrard, Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire Police and ACPO lead on CCTV said:

“When a crime has occurred CCTV is a vital element in the investigative process. In certain major investigations it can be particularly substantial and significant, as it has been in some terrorist cases.

“Despite its value, however, the CCTV network in the UK has built up in a piecemeal way, driven by local authorities and the private sector more than by the police. There are questions about how we can make better use of it in the future by establishing standards for quality of image and format so that detection opportunities are not missed. New technologies such as facial recognition also offer potential for increasing the effectiveness of images in the future, and ACPO has highlighted the need for coordination in taking this work forward.

“Coverage in the media today illustrates some of the remaining problems and the frustration felt in the police service when an investigation is unable to use CCTV images to solve a crime because of a poor standard of quality. As the police officer quoted in the media today has said, better training and more intelligent use of the technology are important to the future development of how we use CCTV.

“That should not allow us to overlook its benefits, however. Overall, ACPO believes the contribution of CCTV to the detection of crime is likely to equal that of DNA and fingerprints. We will continue to work with government and the private sector to drive up standards so that its full potential to solve crime is exploited.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

• The ACPO Press Office can be contacted via 020 7084 8946/47/48 (office hours) or via 07803 903686 (out of office hours).

• The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is an independent, professionally led strategic body. In the public interest and, in equal and active partnership with Government and the Association of Police Authorities, ACPO leads and co-ordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need ACPO, on behalf of all chief officers, coordinates the strategic policing response.

• ACPO’s 341 members are police officers of Assistant Chief Constable rank (Commanders in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) and above, and senior police staff managers, in the 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and other forces such as British Transport Police and States of Jersey Police.