Roughlee Parish Council CCTV

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This policy is to control the management, operation, use and confidentiality of the CCTV system located at Happy Valley crossroads in Roughlee. The CCTV is owned and managed by Roughlee Parish Council.

The policy was prepared after taking due account of the Code of Practice published by the Data Protection Commissioner (revised 2015) and the General Data Protection Regulations 2018. This policy will be subject to periodic review by the Parish Council to ensure that it continues to reflect the public interest and that it and the system meets all legislative requirements.

Roughlee Parish Council accepts the eight data protection principles based on the Data Protection Act 1998 as follows. Data must be:

  • fairly and lawfully processed;
  • processed for limited purposes and not in any manner incompatible with those purposes;
  • adequate, relevant and not excessive;
  • accurate;
  • not kept for longer than is necessary;
  • processed in accordance with individuals’ rights;
  • secure;
  • not transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects is ensured.

Statement of Purpose

The CCTV system will be used solely to assist the police, the Parish Council and other Law Enforcement Agencies with identification, detection, apprehension and prosecution of offenders by examining and using retrievable evidence relating to crime, public order or contravention of bye-laws. The system will not be used to invade the privacy of any individual, except when carried out in accordance with the law.

Changes to the Purpose or Policy

The CCTV Policy may be discussed at meetings of the Roughlee Parish Council.

Responsibilities of the Owner of the Scheme

Roughlee Parish Council retains overall responsibility for the scheme. Day to day operational responsibility rests with a designated member of the Parish Council and the Clerk to the Parish Council.

Breaches of this policy will be investigated by the Clerk to the Council and reported to the Parish Council. Operators must act with integrity and not abuse the equipment or change the pre-set criteria to compromise the privacy of an individual.

The position of cameras and monitors have been optimised to capture the four roads of the crossroads. No public access will be allowed to the monitors except for lawful, proper and sufficient reason, with prior approval of the Clerk to the Council or the Chairman of the Parish Council. The Police are permitted access to digital copies if they have reason to believe that such access is necessary to investigate, detect or prevent crime.

Operators should regularly check the accuracy of the date/time displayed.

Digital records should be securely stored to comply with data protection and should only be handled by the essentially minimum number of persons. Digital images will be erased after a period of 42 days.

Images will not normally be supplied to the media, except on the advice of the police if it is deemed to be in the public interest. The Clerk to the Council would inform the Chairman of the Parish Council of any such emergency.

As records may be required as evidence at Court, each person handling a digital record may be required to make a statement to a police officer and sign an exhibit label. Any images that are handed to a police officer should be signed for by the police officer and information logged to identify the recording, and showing the officer’s name and police station. The log should also show when such information is returned to the Parish Council by the police and the outcome of its use.

Any event that requires checking of recorded data will be clearly detailed in the log book of incidents, including Crime Numbers if appropriate, and the Parish Council notified at the next available opportunity.

Any damage to equipment or malfunction discovered by an operator should be reported immediately to the Clerk to the Council and the Chairman of the Council and recorded in the log. When a repair has been made, this should also be logged showing the date and time of completion.

Any request by an individual member of the public for access to their own recorded image must be made to the Parish Clerk. Such requests will be submitted to the next meeting of the Parish Council for consideration and reply, normally within one calendar month. There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same personal data or requests which are manifestly unfounded or excessive may be subject to an administrative fee.

Any written concerns or complaints regarding the use of the system will be considered by the Parish Council, in line with the existing complaints policy.

This policy was adopted by Roughlee Parish Council at a meeting of the council on 13 May 2019. Any amendments will be updated on this page at https://www.roughlee.org.uk/cctv.