Treating professional CCTV operators, such as those in town and city CCTV Centres, as if they were untrained or equivalent to non-professional users can be detrimental for several reasons
1. Loss of Expertise and Skill
Undervaluing Specialised Knowledge:
Professional CCTV operators are trained in advanced surveillance techniques, data analysis, and incident response. They are often familiar with legal and ethical guidelines, and they understand the nuances of public safety. Treating them like untrained users can diminish the value of their expertise, leading to a potential decrease in the effectiveness of surveillance operations.
Decreased Operational Efficiency:
Professional operators know how to maximise the capabilities of sophisticated CCTV systems. They can quickly identify and respond to security threats, manage complex incidents, and coordinate with law enforcement responses in real-time. Equating their role to that of less trained users can slow down critical decision-making processes and reduce overall efficiency. It also undermines them.
2. Increased Risk of Security Breaches
Lower Standards of Security:
Professional CCTV systems are often designed with higher security protocols to prevent unauthorised access and data breaches. If professional operators are treated like untrained users, there might be a push towards less secure systems that are easier to use but more vulnerable to breaches, thereby compromising the integrity of the surveillance network.
Compromised Evidence Quality:
Professional operators are adept at maintaining the chain of custody for video evidence and ensuring that captured footage is stored and retrieved according to legal standards and frequently, BSCC CCTV Code of Practice accreditation. Treating them as untrained users can lead to mishandling of evidence, making it less likely to hold up or worse still, be discredited in court.
3. Erosion of Trust and Morale
Undermining Professionalism:
When professional operators are treated as untrained (or just like the corner shop CCTV owner or the Petrol station staff) it can lead to a sense of being undervalued and disrespected. This can erode morale, leading to disengagement and potentially higher turnover rates, which in turn can result in a loss of institutional & local knowledge and worse still, continuity in operations.
Diminished Public Trust:
Professional CCTV operators play a crucial role in ensuring public safety and confidence in surveillance systems. If their expertise is disregarded, it could lead to mistakes or oversights that damage public trust in the effectiveness and fairness of CCTV systems.
4. Ineffective Implementation of New Systems
Often A Failure To Consult:
A general failure by police DEMS/DAMS project teams to consult with the professional users of CCTV has led to resistance on their part to engage. When you are not asked or consulted about fundamental changes to well-established CCTV evidential procedures, seemingly just to save a few miles of travel time for what are frequently non-operational police staff investigating low-level crime it hardly seems worth it.
Training Gaps:
New systems often require specialised training to be used effectively. If professionals are treated as though they require only basic training, there could be significant gaps in knowledge, leading to improper use of new technologies and a failure to achieve desired outcomes.
And lastly, over the past 30 years, CCTV Centres have developed some quite advanced procedures to deal with evidential continuity and probity. The procedures being almost imposed upon them under these new evidence collections processes, seem to leave much to desired in relation to some aspects of this.
It is our view that there has been significant 'mission-creep' during the role-out of DEMS/DAMS systems, often by civilian project teams that have little understanding of how professional CCTV systems and processes operate. We completely support the capture of all available evidence from wherever it is available but with the caveat that a 'catch-all' approach may not be the right one.
Next up: 'The Big Transcoding Issue'