CCTV Initiative

Chester City Council manages and operates the scheme on behalf of Chester Community Safety Partnership.

The Council has a dedicated CCTV team that works closely with the Police, gathering evidence and sharing intelligence to help combat crime.

The CCTV Scheme is operational 24 hours a day 365 days per year.

Chester has over 100 cameras linked by a fibre optic network to the Control Centre within Chester Town Hall. The cameras cover the Town Centre, Car Parks and roadways contributing to the everyday management of the city.

Chester is benefiting from CCTV in the following ways;

• Reducing the fear of crime.
• Deterring crime.
• Detecting crime and providing evidence in court.
• Improved traffic management.
• Enhanced community safety, encouraging greater use of Chester's shops and Facilities.
• Helping the Council carry out it's enforcement and regulatory duties.
• Improved management of the city.
• Supporting civil proceeding that will help detect crime.
• Closer communication with other community safety operations.

Strategic Monitoring

Chester's 100 plus cameras cannot all be watched at the same time, so Operators use local knowledge and shared intelligence to monitor the right cameras at the right time of day or night. This approach increases the likelihood of observing criminal or anti-social activity. Operators also use information received over the Co-SIGN and Police radio systems to swiftly direct cameras towards areas of need.

The CCTV Operators input information into a database, specifically written and built for CCTV Operations. The information received from the database helps us to understand what type of crime is occurring in different parts of the city at different times of the day or night.

Town centre cameras also have the ability to pan, tilt and zoom across 360 degrees, allowing the Operators to follow a suspect and monitor incidents more effectively, ensuring evidence obtained is of evidential value.

Mobile CCTV

 

Chester has invested in a mobile CCTV vehicle. This enables a vast expansion to the coverage capabilities of the scheme. The unit can be rapidly deployed to anywhere in the Chester District including rural areas to combat displacement and short-term problems. The unit is also used as a support service to emergencies in Chester and contributes to the Major Emergency Plan.

The Mobile CCTV Unit is proving an invaluable tool for gathering evidence and deterring anti-social and criminal activity.

The CCTV Team

Chester City Council employs a professional CCTV team who are highly trained in all aspects of CCTV management, including handling data in line with the Data Protection Act 1998, Human Rights and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

The team follows strict codes of practice and operational procedures. Operators are also required to pass stringent Police vetting processes as part of their working terms and conditions and adhere to strict confidentiality clauses.

All Operators are trained to B-TEC level in CCTV Operations.

Download

• Chester City CCTV Scheme Annual Report 359kb

 

• CCTV Code of Practice 2738kb