Tony Porter, the official Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC), has issued best practice guidance, ‘Facing the Camera’, to police forces in England and Wales. As he says, it’s the first guidance to be released since the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment on Bridges v South Wales Police in August – the SCC was an intervener in the case and a key contributor.
The High Court ruled that the police force’s use of LFR (live facial recognition) was in accordance with the law; but this was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, as featured in the September print edition of Professional Security magazine. More recently, Tony Porter gave an update to the Global MSC conference on CCTV, usually run in Bristol, but last month held online.
Tony Porter, pictured, said: “Over the seven 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 South Wales Police’s use of LFR was in accordance with the law, but this was later overturned by the Court of Appeal.
“The guidance I’ve issued will help forces who want to use LFR identify how to do so in accordance with the 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.”
For the 72-page document visit the SCC website.
