Some people don’t like the fact that CCTV is so commonplace in Britain and it is true that the UK has a lot more cameras filming people than most countries. But anyone suggesting this has an Orwellian motive should remember Britons don’t have to routinely carry ID like citizens elsewhere.
Of course, most of the time people can go about their daily, lawful business with their appearance on camera being irrelevant. But there are many times and places where people have no business setting foot in certain places or carrying out particular activities.
If you own premises that may be at risk at night, be it from thieves seeking the goods kept inside, vandals aiming to cause damage, squatters attempting to trespass, politically-motivated individuals hoping to undermine your work, or simply people undertaking illegal behaviour (such as using a car park for drug dealing), CCTV has a big crime-fighting role.
The first factor to consider is that even if the activity is not going to directly impact your firm (such as someone using our car park for crimes), you may not want that kind of thing happening on your patch, not least as it will give the area a bad name.
Secondly, the protection CCTV gives you can work in two different ways. One is as a deterrent, because anyone who sees you have CCTV will realise that your premises will be better protected than others nearby, so they will try their luck elsewhere. That may still lead to a crime, but at least you are not the victim.
However, a third consideration (which will help others as well as yourself) is that if the cameras can identify the crooks, it can be used as evidence by police and used to help convict them. They won’t be coming near your property while they are behind bars.
Official data for police forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023 showed not just that overall crime had risen, but that there had been a year-on-year increase in the number of criminal cases left unresolved because no suspect had been identified, from 36.7 per cent to 39.7 per cent. Of these, 73.7 per cent were thefts.
While not all of these were incidents in which the presence of CCTV might have made a difference, either because the theft happened where nobody would put cameras or because the thief was disguised, the fact that CCTV can identify suspects means in many cases its absence may have made the difference between crooks getting off scot-free or being caught.
Of course, if someone does get apprehended because they tried to break into your property and were spotted by CCTV, word may get around the criminal fraternity quickly, noting that your security system is robust and not to be messed with.
With CCTV in place, you will not only reduce the prospects of anyone making an unlawful entry to your premises, but avoid the disruption of having to clear up damage or file insurance claims, making the investment well worth it.