Following the decision made on decommissioning work on Community Safety CCTVs in Birmingham, a statement was made by Councillor John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety and Equalities, and Leader of the City Council.
Following the 2017/18 budget decision to decommission a number of the city council’s CCTV cameras, a robust assessment of this network identified a number of them no longer met the legal operational requirement to be used in a public space. Cllr. Cotton said: “A robust assessment of our Community Safety CCTV network has found that 62 of those 197 cameras no longer met the legal Operational Requirement for cameras to be used in the public realm, as set out by the Home Office Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s (HOSSC) compliance guidelines.
“These were identified as non-compliant for various reasons, such as obsolete or faulty equipment that is no longer fit for purpose, or cameras being used in areas where little or no crime is recorded - therefore no longer meeting the legal requirement for use in areas where crime or anti-social behaviour is an issue. We are also investing in eight new redeployable CCTV cameras – which can be used in different areas of the city (based on data intelligence and local need) – which means in total there will be 20 of these in use across the city.
“Following this work, Birmingham will still be covered by significant wider network of 258 public space CCTV cameras (including the remaining 135 Community Safety cameras).” Being transparent about decommissioning forms part of HOSCC’s Passport to Compliance - which also forms part of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Lyle Bignon, Night Time Economy Ambassador for Birmingham, working on behalf of the Night Time Industries Association, said: "Many of us working in Birmingham's night-time economy share major concerns that the lack of West Midlands Police access to city council CCTV leaves the city's businesses, workers and customers without a significant policing resource, and therefore more vulnerable to crime.
"NTE businesses and workers have witnessed or experienced major crimes in central Birmingham in recent days, including robberies and assaults, as well as car crime. We are astounded as to why - five days on from the problem being publicly reported - this service is yet to be restored.
"Without WMP access to the city council CCTV function and subsequently no instant overview of the city centre, the city's ability to maintain safety and respond effectively to crime in central Birmingham is likely to be significantly compromised. This serious interruption to public safety provision must be addressed as a matter of urgency; particularly as lives and livelihoods are potentially at stake."