Tony Porter, Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC), has
issued best practice guidance, ‘Facing the
Camera’, to all police forces in England and Wales.
It is the first guidance to be released since the Court of
Appeal handed down its judgement on Bridges v South
Wales Police earlier this year – the SCC was an
intervener in the case and a key contributor.
The High Court ruled that South Wales Police’s use of
LFR was in
accordance with the law, but this was later overturned by
the Court of Appeal.
The SCC is the independent regulator of the overt use and
public operation of surveillance camera systems by the
police in England and Wales. This includes systems
incorporating LFR. He supports the
police having legitimate recourse to surveillance camera
systems including LFR where they are
necessary to keep us safe and secure, within the clear
provisions of the law. Transparency of lawful use is
essential to public trust and confidence in such matters.
Tony Porter said:
Over the 7 years I have been Commissioner I have
continually said that the police should be able to use
technology to keep us safe and secure but this must be
balanced against our civil liberties and the law.
The high court ruled that the deployment of LFR in South Wales was
not in accordance with the law.
The guidance I’ve issued today will help forces who want
to use LFRidentify how to do so
in accordance with the current legal framework.
Where there is a proportionate need to deploy intrusive
technology, it is right that the police have the guidance
to do that – Facing the Camera will go some way to help
them before decisions are made to deploy.
