Council and democracy

Agenda item

CCTV Public Identification Policy

Minutes:

Dulal Ahmed, Housing Enforcement Manager, presented the report that outlined the benefits of implementing a policy to tackle resident priorities such as Anti-Social Behaviour, fly tipping, criminal damage and public nuisance as CCTV was a powerful tool for addressing crime. Members were also referred to the legislation providing the Council with the powers to take formal action under its Enforcement Policy.

 

Councillor Lawrence thanked the Officers for the good report and questioned how officers could be certain that the persons were under the age of 18 years old. Dulal Ahmed stated that individuals would be identified first before any images were released, with photos only be released as a last resort as there were other methods that could be used to identify an individual. Work would be undertaken with the Children and Adult Services but the CCTV would be used for more serious offences such as fly-tipping where the driver of that vehicle would more likely be over the age of 18 years old.

 

Councillor Lawrence stated the Pro-Forma Checklist was very lengthy and had any thoughts be made to shorten the document. Dulal Ahmed stated the Checklist would need to be completed for each request to ensure the necessary safeguards were in place.

 

Councillor Lawrence questioned what would happen if a photo was released of an under 18 year old. Dulal Ahmed stated residents were encouraged to report and each individual would be investigated with information received being passed onto the relevant Council’s enforcement teams to follow up. Any suspect being identified in the process of released CCTV images would be interviewed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 code of practice.

 

Councillor Fletcher stated the process for approval looked lengthy and questioned how long the process would take and the effectiveness of it. Dulal Ahmed stated that this would depend on the methods used but the release of an image would be the last resort. Phil Carver, Strategic Lead Enforcement and Community Protection, stated that there were statutory times allowed for offenders to be investigated and proceedings to commence of the criminal act being complained of.

 

Councillor Fletcher questioned whether this policy had been used at other authorities and whether they had experienced any challenges. Phil Carver stated the policy had been used at his previous employment and there had been no issues.

 

Councillor Mayes questioned whether the Council could be sued for publishing images of persons under the age of 18 years old. Julie Rogers stated that if there was significant evidence that a person was under the age of 18 the image would not be used and that every precaution would be undertaken with the appropriate checks being carried out by the Council’s Legal Team.

 

Councillor J Kent asked for assurance that the images would be used to help identify suspects and not be used to name and shame.

 

Councillor J Kent referred to recommendation 1.2 and where on the Council’s website would the images be published. Dulal Ahmed stated this would be controlled through the Communications Team and sit within the normal Council platforms.

 

Councillor J Kent questioned whether there had been thoughts of using facial recognition software. Dulal Ahmed stated this software had not been considered as yet but could not be ruled out for use in the future.

 

The Chair requested that an update report be brought back to committee in six months’ time.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Cleaner Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted and commented on the implementation of a Public Identification CCTV policy for enforcement purposes.

 

2.    That the Cleaner Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee note that images would be released in local publications and on the internet including the Council’s website.

 

3.    That the Cleaner Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that an Update Report should be brought back in six months’ time.

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