A Quick Guide to CCTV Systems for Retail Centres

We are used to seeing security cameras in retail stores throughout the UK. CCTV cameras play a key role in the security strategy of today’s retail businesses and can make a world of difference for the safety of your customers, your staff, and ultimately, your reputation.

But video surveillance is not an entirely trivial matter. Its use is regulated by ample legislation, and you always need to weigh the benefits of surveillance against the legal effort required to implement it and against the effort required to use and maintain a security system.

If all this sounds complicated, we hope we’ll be able to offer some useful pointers. The legislation may be obscure, but its principles aren’t. Armed with a better understanding of the basics, you’ll be able to figure out what you need and how to make it happen in no time.

CCTV Systems for Retail Centres: Advantages and Disadvantages

Are there any benefits to deploying CCTV cameras in retail stores?

Absolutely – video surveillance has played a key role in securing shopping centres for more than thirty years now.

Why?

The most often-cited objective of deploying CCTV cameras in shopping centres is crime deterrence. The hope is that someone who might commit an illegal act – theft, assault or any other crime – would rather not do it in front of a camera. Consequently, if they know they are being watched, they will avoid illegal or suspicious activity.

Does it work?

The evidence that video surveillance deters crime in public places is there, scientifically speaking. But studies have also shown that the crime-deterrence effect varies significantly.

This would suggest that video surveillance can be a component of an effective security system but is not a panacea. The presence of CCTV cameras can influence behaviour but is not a physical barrier against crime.

Another important benefit of CCTV use is the sense of security that their presence can impart. Customers may not be afraid of shoplifters the way you are, but they can be the victims of theft or assault while they are in a store, too.

The presence of security cameras implies a certain degree of safety, and that can contribute to a better shopping experience.

The sense of security that CCTV cameras impart is a two-edged sword, though. Making your customers and staff feel secure is only useful if you can back it up with real security guarantees.

A mismanaged CCTV system can give your customers and staff the impression that they are safer than they really are – a false sense of security which, experts caution us, can create an opportunity for criminals.

If all else fails – and this is the least “two-edged” benefit of security cameras – legally obtained surveillance footage can provide useful evidence, which the police can use to recover stolen goods and track down perpetrators.

The key, of course, is “legally obtained”. CCTV cameras come not only with benefits but also with legal obligations. Failing to abide by these obligations will not only get you in trouble with the law but could make it impossible for you to use CCTV footage in a legal setting, even if it could be useful.

Want to make sure the CCTV system in your shopping centre is both effective and legally compliant? Talk to UK’s top CCTV system installers for a FREE, no-obligations on-site survey!

Should I Use a CCTV Camera?

So, do the benefits of CCTV cameras outweigh the cost and legal risks?

One way to go about this would be to point at the ample evidence that, at the very least, there’s no harm to using CCTV cameras, assuming you can properly manage them.

But we think that’s not the right way to look at this matter. There are so many CCTV camera models, with so many capabilities, and integrated into so many security systems, that the question is too broad to be useful.

Instead, you should look at your objectives: what people and what things you want to protect, and against what threats. This will help you understand what capabilities you need from your surveillance system (if you even need one): what kind of camera, how many cameras, and with what features.

In other words, what you want to ask is:

1. What problem (Theft, Unauthorised entry, Assault) could affect the people (staff, customers) and goods that you are responsible for?
2. How likely is it that these problems might occur?
3. What counts as “solving” this problem (Preventing theft or assault? identifying the perpetrator? having clear records?)
4. What is the best way to solve this problem? CCTV cameras are one option, but there are many other options to consider: lighting, physical barriers, security guards, alarms, etc.

In our experience, common scenarios for using CCTV cameras in retail settings include:

• Protecting against shoplifting during opening hours
• Protecting against burglary outside opening hours
• Protecting staff and customers against assault and theft, especially at night, in remote areas, or in neighbourhoods with high rates of criminal activity
• Monitoring staff at work

These scenarios are quite diverse. This explains the diversity of CCTV camera models and features – but don’t worry, they are far less intimidating than the shopping catalogues make it seem at first.

Let our experts choose the right CCTV system for your shop! With more than 20 years of experience in this field, we can make sure you get the system that fits your needs and your budget.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to CCTV Capabilities

Selecting the right camera based on your objective sounds good on paper, but there are thousands of models and hundreds of features. How do you pick the right one?

When examining this, it’s important to keep in mind that CCTV cameras are not the only component of a security system and that you can use any kind (as long as it’s legal) and as few or as many as you need.

Camera models differ from one another in four basic ways:

• How they look
• What environment conditions they work in
• What areas they can cover
• What image processing features they have.

This is where you want to start.

Let’s take a closer look at all these factors

1. Camera shape does hide more than just looks, but it’s the most basic element. Some cameras (like bullet CCTV cameras) look bulky and generic so as to be instantly recognisable. Others, such as certain dome camera models, are built so as to be recognisable but to hide which way they’re “looking”. Other models are designed to be as hard to identify as possible – but, as we will see in a minute, this can carry additional legal problems.
2. Environmental conditions dictate where and when a camera can be used. Some, but not all, CCTV cameras can be used at night, for example, as they come with their own IR illumination system.
3. Coverage dictates how wide an area can be surveyed by a single camera. Some cameras can “look” only in one direction. Other cameras, such as PTZ (Pan, Tilt and Zoom) cameras, are mobile to some degree but still have a limited field of view. 360-degree cameras can survey an entire area, but they have limited zoom and focus capabilities.
4. Image processing features like facial recognition or automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) can augment your surveillance capabilities but at an additional cost.

CCTV Legislation in the UK

It’s a lot easier to be brief about CCTV technology than about CCTV legislation.

Surveillance is a very complicated topic: the right to liberty and security, fair trial, respect for private and family life, and the right to peaceful enjoyment of our property are fundamental to our society.

Depending on how it’s used, surveillance can either help us enforce these rights or undermine them.

This fragile balance is what makes surveillance legislation so difficult and sensitive. But, while we cannot hope to cover the breadth of CCTV legislation, we can at least clarify your basic responsibilities.

The most important principle of CCTV surveillance is that it should be deployed only if it’s necessary and only for clearly defined purposes. In some cases, you may have to formally document this through a data protection impact assessment.

If your business uses CCTV cameras, you will have to tell people that they may be recorded. Anyone can ask to see CCTV images that you’ve recorded of them, too, and you must provide them within 40 days. This is true even if you are only monitoring your staff, not your customers.

Furthermore, you are also responsible for safeguarding surveillance data. You must control who can view CCTV footage and make sure it does not fall into the wrong hands.

In certain cases, you will also need to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about your CCTV usage. If you are unsure about this, the ICO has a handy registration self-assessment page that can help you figure it out.

What This Means for You

The main challenges that organizations face when deploying CCTV cameras are practical in nature.

Paperwork aside, you need to decide things like how you will let people know about surveillance, who can view CCTV footage and under what conditions. Then you need to figure out how to provide the technical support to make it happen.

A good framework for managing your surveillance capabilities should, at the very least, answer four questions:

• How do you notify everyone of CCTV use?
• Who can view CCTV footage?
• How is CCTV footage protected?
• How long you retain it?

How do you notify concerned parties about CCTV use?

You are legally required to notify everyone (including employees!) that they may be recorded, and you are required to provide everyone with details about the purpose of the surveillance and the identity of the organisation that is collecting the footage.

This is true even if you are not surveying customers. You can monitor employees at work, but you need to be transparent about it, explain the purpose of the monitoring, and its scope.

Only under very specific circumstances, and even then only temporarily and as part of an ongoing investigation, are you allowed to monitor your staff without their knowledge.

In fact, as a general rule, a CCTV system can only be used for its intended purposes. For example, if you have deployed a camera to deter crime, you cannot use it in order to monitor your employees’ productivity.