Surveillance Camera Day 2019

As part of the national Surveillance Camera Day, Leicestershire Police is urging people to fill in a new survey about automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Surveillance Camera Day is a national event to raise awareness about surveillance cameras, why they are used and who is using them and generate a debate about how they are used.   It’s a conversation about how camera technology is evolving especially around facial recognition and artificial intelligence and what the benefits and risks are.

Like all other forces, Leicestershire Police uses ANPR technology to detect, disrupt and deter criminals who use the road network.   The forces uses static and mobile cameras which have proved important in the detection of many offences including locating wanted people, missing people, witnesses, stolen vehicles, uninsured vehicles and uncovering major crime.

Detective Inspector Rich Hiom, is the force’s ANPR coordinator.  He said; “We have launched an ANPR survey because we want to understand how much people know about the cameras, what they think of them and what crimes they think they help us detect.  It is important that we capture people’s views – good and bad – to understand how we can protect communities and respect people’s right to privacy. It only take a few minutes to fill it in and we’d like as many responses as possible.”     

Tony Porter, Surveillance Camera Commissioner, said: “Surveillance Camera Day is a world first. The UK is sometimes referred to as ‘the most surveilled country on the planet’. I want to start a conversation about how surveillance cameras are used, why they’re used and who is using them. Cameras are used to keep people safe but new and emerging technology can lead to greater infringements to our civil liberties. Civil engagement is a key strand of the national surveillance camera strategy and I want people who use cameras to shine a light on what they do – how they’re using cameras to protect communities not spy on them.

You can find out more about Surveillance Camera Day at #cameraday2019 or at www.gov.uk/government/publications/surveillance-camera-day-20-june-2019