Smile, you’re on 11,400 Cheshire CCTV screens

Sep 8 2009 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

MORE than 11,000 CCTV cameras are watching over high streets and businesses across the county.

Cheshire Constabulary has been collating information on the number, location and capability of privately-operated cameras since 2007.

Together with local authority-owned CCTV systems, the total number of cameras identified so far is more than 11,400 – although this is thought to be only 60-70% of the overall figure.

Whether the cameras are a reassuring presence in the fight against crime or a Big Brother intrusion into our lives depends on your view.

The police perspective is that cameras are an invaluable tool for solving murders, assaults, robberies and sex crimes.

But until the mapping exercise, Cheshire police had limited information about the cameras on its patch.

Assistant Chief Constable Graeme Gerrard told CCTV Image magazine: “At it’s very basic level, if you are to make effective use of CCTV for crime investigations, you really need to know where your cameras are.”

The traditional approach was to send officers to walk through an area, identifying where the cameras are located. But this is a time-consuming process and doesn’t reveal the capabilities of the cameras or how long the images are retained.

The latest initiative involves community support officers knocking on doors armed with information booklets and the data they collect is compiled by a coordinator. Few businesses have been reluctant to share details about their cameras apart from banks due to the sensitive nature of their security arrangements.

A response to a Freedom of Information request reveals that 52% of CCTV system produce good quality images while 48% produce poor quality pictures.