CCTV

We manage the CCTV camera network in the Wycombe district from our control room at the Wycombe District Council offices.

CCTV Lay Visitor Annual Public Meeting

Everyone is welcome to come along to the Annual Public Meeting of the CCTV Lay Visitor Panel. The meeting will take place on Monday 13th February at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Wycombe District Council, Queen Victoria Road, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP11 1BB. The Panel will report on the progress of the CCTV service and will be able to answer any questions raised from the floor.

 

CCTV Newsletter

A regular newsletter about the service including performance information is produced. The January to June 2011 edition is attached below.

 

New Digital Upgrade Launch

Wycombe District Council has recently unveiled its new control room following a complete overhaul of the ageing analogue system.

The control room now has state-of-the-art digital recording equipment and a host of flat screen monitors, which pull in live footage from the 228 cameras across the area including neighbouring the neighbouring districts of Chiltern and South Bucks.

The new hi-tech control room will cut annual energy consumption by 15 per cent, with a further yearly charge for line rental reduced by 30 per cent. The modernisation will also reduce maintenance and service costs by 40 per cent.

Cllr Richard Scott, cabinet member for younger and older people with responsibility for CCTV, said: "We are very pleased, it's a very impressive system. CCTV is an important tool in maintaining the relatively low crime and anti-social behaviour levels in the Wycombe district and beyond. The modernisation of the control room also means that we are now able to provide a higher quality community service, at a reduced cost to the taxpayer. "

The office is manned 24/7 by a team of eight operatives working on a rota system.

In the last decade the CCTV service has helped Thames Valley Police to make more than 5,000 arrests and assisted in the search for 2,600 missing people.

The control room has also responded to in excess of 186,000 Wycombe Watch and Pub Watch calls, and dealt with 27,000 requests from motorists at council-owned car-park help points.

CCTV is overseen by an independent lay visitor panel that safeguards the rights and interests of those living or visiting areas covered by CCTV, in line with the law. If you are interested in the Panel there is information provided below.

Why do we need CCTV?

A main aim of CCTV is to act as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour. If CCTV operators notice an incident, they can inform the police and direct them to it. CCTV footage can also be used as evidence following an arrest.

What does the CCTV control room do?

• Operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Monitors a total of 211 cameras (including automatic number plate recognition cameras) across the Wycombe district and provides monitoring for Chiltern District Council, South Bucks District Council and Beaconsfield Town Council
• Monitors Wycombe and Marlow Watch radio for sharing information about retail and licensed premises crime
• Answers calls from our out of hours stand-by service
• Answers calls from car park emergency help points
• Controls car park bollards (out of hours)

The CCTV report 2009 can be downloaded below. This contains the location of CCTV cameras in the Wycombe district.

Our network has achieved gold accreditation from the national CCTV User Group.

Data protection and CCTV oversight

Lay Visitor Panel

An independent Lay Visitor Panel provides oversight of our CCTV service. It's their job to safeguard the rights and interests of those living or visiting areas covered by CCTV in line with the law. The panel's terms of reference can be downloaded below.

Data protection

Images of people are covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. Most uses of CCTV by organisations or businesses will be covered by the DPA.

The Information Commissioner's Office has published guidelines to help organisations using CCTV to stay within the law (see the link below).

Access to CCTV footage

You have the right to be told if personal data is held about you on CCTV. A number of exemptions apply and footage is kept for one calendar month only. We charge a fee for every access request.

For full details open the access request form below.