Police forces and councils who want to set up CCTV systems will be required to give reasons why
Police forces and councils who want to set up CCTV systems will have to be open and clear about what they will be used for and why under Home Office plans.
The plans for a new code of conduct come after West Midlands Police apologised last year over a controversial CCTV scheme which saw more than 200 surveillance cameras installed in two largely Muslim neighbourhoods.
The code may also say how long data, including images from automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, such as those which helped track the killers of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in November 2005, should be retained.
‘ANPR differs significantly from CCTV, because ANPR data is more easily searchable,’ the Home Office said.
‘Accordingly, its longer retention can be particularly helpful in police investigations although there should be public transparency in relation to the length of any retention periods.’
It added that data used for a particular purpose ‘should not be kept for longer than is necessary’.
Crime prevention minister James Brokenshire said: ‘CCTV and ANPR systems play a vital role in the prevention and detection of crime.
‘However it is important they are used in a way that does not invade law-abiding people’s privacy or undermine the public’s confidence in them.
That’s why we are establishing this code and that’s why we are asking the public what they think should be in it.’
