CCTV scheme labelled a fiasco

The cameras fail to tackle crime, despite billions spent on technology

Angelica Mari, Computing 07 May 2008

A senior police officer has claimed CCTV cameras fail to reduce crime despite billions of pounds spent in technology.

Even though thousands cameras are installed and operating round the clock, the amount of crime solved with the help of CCTV imagery represents only a small amount of all robberies taking place nationwide.

"Billions of pounds has been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter fiasco: only three per cent of crimes were solved by CCTV," head of Scotland Yard's Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office (Viido) Mike Neville told the Security Document World Conference in London.

To help tackle the problem, Viido has started the setup of a London-wide image database, which will store images of suspects that are matched by written descriptions. Crime prevention schemes in some parts of the capital are already using the system, which is said to be helping police in 15-20 per cent of theft.

Gathering specialist skills to support the Viido scheme has been one of the challenges.

"With all CCTV it is not as simple as an officer grabbing a tape. If it's not a simple VHS player they may have to get CDs, or even worse, a hard-drive has to be recovered.

“Often footage is in multiplex format where there'll be 12 or 20 cameras on the same tape," Neville told the BBC.

But technology will continue to play a significant role in the scheme. Plans to build on the existing structure include using tracking software to follow characteristic logos or signs on the clothing of unidentified suspects.

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