The States of Jersey Police operate and monitor a system of CCTV cameras in and around the town centre. There is also the capability to view images from the CCTV cameras at the Harbour. Cameras are monitored from the States of Jersey Police Control Room, which is situated at Police Headquarters in Rouge Bouillon.
The CCTV system operates 23 cameras. The majority of the cameras are high performance PTZ cameras, Pan (moving the cameras from right to left through 360 degrees), Tilt (moving the cameras up or down through 270 degrees) and Zoom (cameras have zoom capabilities 1.14, which enables the camera to read a two-foot by three foot ‘A’ board advertisement at over 200 metres). They record in full colour both by day and night and in all weathers and are mounted either on specially designed poles or wall brackets. It is anticipated that they will be replaced in the near future with a ‘like for like’ system.
The cameras communicate with the CCTV Control Room via fibre optic cable. The cameras are operated by the Force Control Room Operators, and CCTV Operators, who use a keypad and joystick to control the cameras.
The States of Jersey Police CCTV systems intends to provide a high quality, professional and effective CCTV service at an affordable cost to the public of Jersey.
The key objectives of the CCTV system are to:
a. Protect areas and premises used by the public;
b. Deter and detect crime;
c. Assist in the identification of offenders leading to their arrest and successful prosecution;
d. Help reduce anti-social behaviour and aggressive behaviour;
d. Help reduce fear of crime;
e. Encourage better use of city facilities and attractions;
f. Maintain and enhance the commercial viability of the town center and encourage continued investment;
g. Encourage the public to act responsibly in their own and the wider community to assist in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour;
h. Cooperate with stakeholders and other CCTV providers at local, regional and national level to develop and share best practice.
The CCTV system is a managed by the States of Jersey Police facility under the day-to-day operational control of the Force Control Room Manager. All of the CCTV staff are either States Of Jersey Police Officers, Honorary Police Officers or Civilian Support Officers (employed by the States of Jersey Police). The CCTV images are monitored 24 hours a day, every day of the year. After selection, CCTV Operators must undergo and pass a training programme before they are permitted to operate the CCTV equipment. The training covers;
a. Administration and record keeping
b. CCTV and communications equipment
c. Codes of Practice and States of Jersey Police Policies
d. Legislation including the Data Protection Act, The Human Rights Act, The Freedom of Information Act, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and the Protection of Freedoms Act.
e. Evidence handling
f. Terrorist issues
g. Features on the ground covered by the cameras
h. Practical training and training exercises
All the Operators must have police and Criminal Records Bureau clearance and are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and the Official Secrets Act.
The primary duty of the CCTV Team is to operate the CCTV equipment to its optimum potential and to patrol proactively in an attempt to detect or deter crime and anti-social behaviour in the areas covered by the cameras.
If Operators see anything which they feel is wrong, they are required to record the incident whilst at the same time passing the images onto the States of Jersey Police Control Room Operators via a dedicated link. A decision is then taken on how they will deal with the incident.
The CCTV Operators will continue to assist the police throughout the incident. Once the incident is over, the CCTV Operator will, at the request of the police, provide visual evidence of the event and if necessary provide a witness statement and go to court as a witness in support of the evidence they have supplied.
The working relationship between the CCTV Control Room and States of Jersey Police (and other enforcement agencies) is close.
The CCTV Control Room is a States of Jersey Police facility and there is normally a Police Sergeant on duty in the Control Room. Police officers are required to make an appointment (with the permission of at least a Sergeant or above) to view CCTV images. Their visit has to be for a specific reason for which an authority has to be produced detailing the nature of the enquiry. For example they may not come and trawl through images looking for offences; viewings have to be for specific crimes.
No one except trained CCTV Operators are permitted to operate the equipment within the CCTV Control Room. The CCTV Operators will do their best to respond to requests for assistance (providing they are within the guidelines contained within the CCTV Codes of Practice) from the patrolling Officers and other enforcement agencies.
All the cameras are linked to the CCTV Control Room via fibre optic cable. These links enable the Operators to control the cameras and allow the cameras to send live images back to the Control Room where they are viewed by the Operator and recorded onto Digital Recorders.
The images from each camera are split with one copy being sent to one of the six colour wall monitors. The other copy of the image is recorded on to one of the Digital video recording server. All cameras are recorded 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
The CCTV system records ‘real’ time. ‘Real’ time recordings will show the events as they happen. When an operator sees an incident starting to develop, they are able to bring the image up onto a 16 inch monitor in front of them. This type of recording is excellent for showing incidents as they actually happened.
Whilst the incident is developing, the operator will make contact with the Force Controllers. The CCTV Operator will inform the Police Operator what has occurred. At the same time the CCTV Operator can use the dedicated link to relay the images of the incident so that the Police Operator can see what is happening and decide what Police response is required to deal with the incident.
Once the incident is over, the Police Officer dealing with the case can arrange to come to the CCTV Control Room’s Viewing Suite and view the evidence. The Officer can then request a copy of the evidence of the incident to enable them to complete their investigations.
There are strict guidelines on the production and release of images from the CCTV Control Room and Police Officers are required to abide by these guidelines. The production of all images is recorded and Officers have to sign for any evidence they remove from the CCTV Control Room. The copy right of all images remains with the States of Jersey Police and images may not be used improperly e.g. for entertainment purposes. There is a time limit on the retention of images and these are strictly adhered to:
a. Normal recordings are kept for a maximum of 92 days
b. Images for ongoing investigations are held until investigations are completed
Once an image is no longer required, the images are over-written by the computer and are no longer available for use. Detailed records are kept of all recordings, viewings and use of evidence.
Radio, IP and Telephone Communications
As well as the police radio and Internet Protocol (IP) dedicated link to the Police Force Headquarters Control Room, the CCTV Control Room has one internal telephone line.
Many people when considering CCTV concentrate on the effects CCTV can have on crime and the fact is that The States of Jersey Police CCTV system does have a good track record in helping enforcement agencies to deal with offences within the areas covered by CCTV cameras. It should however be remembered that CCTV cameras can help in other situations by:
a. Proving people are innocent or not involved in incidents
b. Preventing crime, ‘nipping incidents in the bud’ by early deployment by the police
c. Helping to locate missing people
d. Calling for assistance for people who appear to be ill or distressed
e. Reacting to fire or burglar alarms
f. Watching over Ambulance Service personnel when they are working in the Town Centre
g. Warning other agencies about broken street lights, water leaks or traffic problem
The States of Jersey Police take the issue of people’s rights to privacy seriously. Therefore CCTV Operators receive detailed training on the Data Protection Act, Human Rights Act, Protection of Freedoms Act and States of Jersey Police policies regarding privacy. They have been taught not to stereotype individuals, nor are they permitted to follow people with the cameras unless they have reason to believe they have or are about to commit an offence.
There are only three instances when a CCTV Operator may view a private area and two of these relate to crimes in progress. The first is in response to a direct request from the police and the other is when a CCTV Operator has actually witnessed a crime and is directing the police to the incident. The final occasion is when an operation is authorised under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). In all these cases the Operator involved will be required to make a detailed report justifying their actions.
Any complaint regarding invasion of privacy will be investigated thoroughly.
The States of Jersey Police carry out on-going assessments on every camera. This is to assess if the camera is still doing the job it was installed to do. If it is no longer fulfilling that role then the camera should either be moved or removed.
As well as these assessments being done for existing cameras, they are also carried out prior to any new cameras being installed.
The code below sets out guidelines for CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to ensure their use is open and proportionate and that they are able to capture quality images that give police a better chance to catch criminals and cut crime.
Surveillance Camera Code of Practice
The cameras are in the following locations -
Appendix ‘A’ to The CCTV System
1 Pole Charing Cross / King Street Junction
2 Wall King Street
3 Wall Broad Street / Conway Street
4 Wall King Street / Don Street Junction
5 Wall Queen Street / Halkett Street Junction
6 Wall Bath Street junction Hilgrove Street
7 Wall Bath Street junction Minden Street
8 Wall Minden Place / Minden Street Junction
9 Wall Beresford Street / Cattle Street Junction
10 Wall Place above the Central Market
11 Wall Burrard Street
12 Wall New Street
13 Pole New North Quay / La Route De Liberation / Liberation Square
14 Pole Weighbridge / Mulcaster Street Junction
15 Wall Caledonia Place / Weighbridge
16 Wall Esplanade / Liberation Square
17 Pole Gloucester Street / Esplanade Junction
18 Pole West Park / Victoria Avenue
19 Pole Waterfront rear
20 Pole Esplanade Carpark / Route De Liberation Roundabout
21 Pole La Route De Part Elizabeth and Park
22 Pole The Parade / Gloucester Street Junction
23 Wall Snow Hill / La Motte Street Junction
24 Radisson Hotel covering Castle Quay
25 Jardin de la Mer car park
26 Castle Quay Marina
All town CCTV cameras were updated in October 2014.
These two images show the difference in quality between the new cameras (above) and the old cameras (below)
