Agenda item

Darren Woods, CCTV Manager to give a presentation on how the CCTV monitoring centre at Edmonton operates.

Darren Woods, CCTV Manager presented this report and highlighting the following:

·         The Enfield Public Safety Centre (EPSC) opened in May 2003 and was funded by the Home Office.

·         It is built for multi-functional 24/7 operational usage with the capacity for further partnership/ client expansion.

·         Since its inception the centre has dealt with over 18,000 incidents in the borough. This is growing as is the camera coverage.

·         The innovations and achievements details in the report were highlighted along with the different services that the centre provides.

·         The EPSC has the capacity and control room space ready for client/partners to move into. Barnet are already on site with their own licence.

·         There is boroughwide resilient radio/fibre network which allows flexibility and cost-effective access to connect to EPSC.

·         A short film was shown on the centre, the film was made with commercialism in mind.

·         The on-site generators can supply power for 1 month and the footage is stored for 31 days.

·         All staff at the centre are fully licenced and independent inspections take place.

·         Enfield is one of the first boroughs to undertake privacy impact assessment on cameras.

The following issues were raised:

·         Following a query on the ANPR cameras. It was confirmed that these are Council owned cameras. The Safer Estates team funded by the council have an application on their tablets allowing images to be pushed to them on a day to day basis. The other police officers do not have this application. However, they can request to focus the cameras on an area.

·         The cameras in the market square in Enfield Town were raised. These are owned by the Enfield Charitable Trust and are not of a high specification or monitored in the same way as the centre. It was felt that discussions should take place with the Trust with a view to bringing these into the centre

Q:        Does this system have the ability to evolve?

A:        Yes, there is the ability to expand and take on new technologies, such as facial recognition. All new technologies must be tested first; facial recognition in particular is dependent both on the software and the cameras.

Q:        Are TfL cameras connect?

A:        No, TfL have changed from analogue to IP. Waltham Forest are currently trialling, now this is digital. The success will be dependent on the IT.

Q:        How successful is the centre at selling services?

A:        Darren has been in post since February 2018 and he is doing a lot of work on commercialism and is looking to bring in extra work to the centre. As part of this, he is looking at trunking fibre optics over the whole borough and also improving the radio network using tower blocks.

Q:        Does the centre manage the Dome Hawk cameras which can be moved around the borough?

A:        No, these are managed by the Community Safety Unit. Queries on these should be directed through Andrea Clemons, Head of the Community Safety Unit.

Q:        Do housing still own their own CCTV network

A:        Most of the HRA sites are now at the EPSC, there are some standalone sites which need to be switched off or brought in.

Q:        Can schools be brought into the centre?

A:        London Grid for learning can be linked in. Darren has recently visited a school and identified quite a few issues and provided advice. This is a service that the schools would have to pay for.

Q:        If a crime has been committed and the date and time is known can the centre provide the data?

A:        The police can send through a request and an appointment can be made for them to come and view the footage. Solicitors and insurers can also request this. Currently the centre does not charge solicitors or insurers for this service. The centre often receives request for footage from insurers and solicitors relating to road traffic accidents. Residents would need to go through their ward officers, who can request and view.

The Chair thanked Darren for his interesting report.