CCTV systems

[Strontium Dog]

I own a terraced office building in a secondary retail location. Periodically it suffers petty vandalism out of office hours. This is unsightly, expensive and annoying.

I am thinking of mounting cross-covering CCTV on the exterior of the building. These would overlook the street. Is this legal? Do I need a licence?

 

[Opinion87]

The more important question to me would be "Will this costly option stop the problem?"

No.

 

[Alan]

Yes it is legal - refer to ICO regarding details of the rules and requirements of data protection & registration.

You will need to install signs warning of CCTV - and installing signs is probably the cheapest option

 

[DavidWH]

The more important question to me would be "Will this costly option stop the problem?"

No.

Correct!

What you end up with is a souvenir video of said acts happening, that boils your pi$$ even more, especially when they acknowledge the camera with a one fingered salute, with their face covered (even before C-19)

And a crime number from the old bill.

Lighting may be more effective.

 

[Bob Morgan]

Correct!

What you end up with is a souvenir video of said acts happening, that boils your pi$$ even more, especially when they acknowledge the camera with a one fingered salute, with their face covered (even before C-19)

And a crime number from the old bill.

Lighting may be more effective.

Where I am, it has been known for the Cameras to be stolen too!

 

[forevergroup]

Axis do vandal-resistant cameras that will take a sledgehammer blow...

...and you can spend many thousands on alerting, analytics, and managed response...

...but it can all be thwarted by a kid with a hoodie and a facemask...

...or something like spray paint or silly string.

Based on the location, and the desired and likely outcome (deterrent, not capture) you may be better off installing bright, motion-triggered lighting and putting up fake cameras with CCTV signage.

 

[Alison Moore]

We found CCTV useful when we had a spate of vandalism, as often the police can recognise individuals as they are 'known' to them, so obviously they can't categorically prove that it's the individual if they're wearing a hoodie, but they can go and have a 'chat' with them. Depending on the person, sometimes the 'chat' was enough to keep them away, however with other people it made them worse. Most of our problems were caused by adults, but when kids are involved the police are less likely to do anything about it.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

I have dummy cameras mounted on the wall. It maybe deters the ones who'd be put off by the presence of CCTV? A nosy neighbour does the rest.

 

[discocill]

Do you really think that the alarm system helps to protect against robbery? It always seemed to me that it was just a divorce for money.

 

[shadowjoe]

I can tell you for sure that it doesn't actually work as well as you think. Firstly, these are just cameras and they will not send you an alarm signal anywhere, that is, you need an alarm system anyway. For example, I just bought ajax and immediately such a system in which there is already a camera and, by the way, there is a verification function that allows you to identify the identity and if the cameras detect a criminal, they immediately send a signal to the police. I think you understand how cool it works. I wish you good luck!