CCTV & Wardens 
Closed Circuit Television
CCTV Development in the UK
Community safety services have been developing since the early 1990's. Many of these are community safety targeted projects which are identified in the crime prevention pages of this site.
However, the two key services - warden services and CCTV services have developed alongside the mainstream of community safety projects and firmly established themselves as part of the crime prevention toolbox.
The UK government has invested heavily in local authority operated CCTV schemes and, through the now defunct CCTV Initiative, CCTV schemes throughout the UK were 'pump primed' by central government. This fairly random but high intensity programme had mixed results and led to critics claiming that CCTV schemes were a waste of money - rarely effectively working to identify criminal acts. In reality properly developed and managed CCTV schemes did the job they were supposed to do - provide a system to observe an area and, especially with later software add-ons such as automatic car number plate recognition, lead to the arrest of offenders and the prevention of crime.
Success or Failure of CCTV?
The above being said there are still many systems whose technology is of a poor standard, systems which are inadequately staffed or managed and systems which are located in areas where they may offer reassurance but not the detection of crime or criminals. Additionally, CCTV is expensive and after the initial outlay - cameras will need renewal, cabling and monitoring facilities will need replacement and revenue costs for monitoring will demand a significant annual budget.
It is also generally accepted that the CCTV Initiative led to an excelerated development of CCTV projects and to such an extent that Britain can fairly claim to be the world leader in CCTV public surveillance. Most UK town centres have CCTV monitoring schemes, most main traffic routes and many public housing estates.
Managing CCTV in the UK
In October 2007 the UK government and the Association of Chief Police Officers (a quasi governmental organisation) published a report on Closed circuit television (CCTV) The National CCTV Strategy . They recognised that CCTV "....plays a significant role in protecting the public and assisting the police in the investigation of crime. In many ways, we have led the world from its early introduction in the 1970s to the massive growth in CCTV installation and use in the 1990s." There are 44 recommendations proposed within this report covering the following themes:
- The need for standards in all aspects of CCTV
- The need for clear guidelines on registration, inspection and enforcement
- Training of all personnel
- The police use of CCTV footage and evidence
- Storage / Volume / Archiving / Retention issues
- The need for CCTV Networks – Live & Stored
- Equipping, resourcing and standardisation within the CJS
- Emerging Technologies / Changing Threats / New & Changing Priorities
- Partnership Working
- Financial and Resource management
Neighbourhood and Street Wardens
Neighbourhood Wardens (also known as Street Wardens, Community Wardens etc) are civil uniformed staff, normally employed by local authorities, who undertake various duties related to environmental enforcement and other local authority public area management duties. Initially conceived of as a reassurance and community development service (often undertaking youth work and support of vulnerable members of the community), wardens are now taking on additional duties as part of the 'extended police family' and providing services for anti social behaviour reduction through the issueing of fix penalty notices or through 'joint tasking' with the police.
Neighbourhood Warden service in the UK, similarly to CCTV, got their big boost via a UK government initiative - in this case via a programme managed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (a now defunct programme and defunct government department). The buy-in to this programme was equally as patchy as with CCTV. In many areas there are no municipal wardens whereas in others - especially in the City of Westminster (City Guardians) and the the London Borough of Southwark (Southwark Community Wardens) there are substantial services which undertake work as an additional significant policing service.
Closed Circuit Television Links
The National CCTV Strategy (published October 2007) presents the results of a UK review of CCTV and its applications in the reduction of crime and in public safety. The report reviews the use of CCTV to date, examining both its strengths and its weaknesses and makes recommendations for future action.
CCTV Initiative : UK Home Office
Crime reduction CCTV mini-site from the UK Home Office.
Metropolitan Police Service - Crime Prevention: CCTV
London Metropolitan Police web page and links about the use of CCTV to support police work in the capital.
A CCTV Code of Practice from the UK government Information Commissioner.
Data Protection Act CCTV Code of Practice
Information from the British Security Industry Association..
Oldam Council CCTV Code of practice
Link to a model local authority CCTV Code of Practice from Oldham.
Neighbourhood Wardens
Neighbourhood Warden background information.
The Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme Evaluation
Report summarising the findings of the national evaluation of the Neighbourhood Wardens schemes.
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