Surveillance

World’s first CCTV Regulator appointed

By Kelly Ng | 11 February 2010

The world’s first CCTV regulator is coming to Singapore to take the pulse of Asia’s security industry. Appointed in December by the UK Home Office, Andrew Rennison will be speaking at the 4th Annual FutureCCTV Forum 2010 where he will be explaining why the country with the densest CCTV penetration has decided to appoint a CCTV regulator.

View photos

Related Categories

• SURVEILLANCE

From this Section

• NEWS

“Issues of standards and regulation are not unique to the UK. CCTV is a global business. Through the forum, I want to network with leaders in this field to hear views on the issues I have to address, and to learn more about the future direction of CCTV technology,” Rennison said.

As interim CCTV regulator, Rennison will act as an independent advisor to a newly established National CCTV Oversight Body and will ensure that all public and private stakeholders across the CCTV industry are actively involved in the development and implementation of national standards on the installation and use of CCTV.

As the Forensic Science Regulator, Rennison’s experience in establishing a suitable framework for monitoring and control of forensic sciences will be applied to CCTV. “My new role will draw on my experience of active involvement of stakeholders, particularly the field experts, to help design standards. This achieves broad consensus and commitment to attain high standards without the need of legislation,” he said.

In 2010, Rennison will review the existing recommendations of the national surveillance strategy and advise the board on implementation. He will advise the government on the use of CCTV in public areas, which includes the need for and structure of a regulatory framework and the importance of a permanent CCTV Regulator. Working with the board, he will also determine training requirements for users and practitioners.

“As I am independent of government, I am able to work and advise from an objective position,” added Rennison.

Tasked to manage the population’s view on CCTV, Rennison will raise awareness about how and why CCTV is used and the benefits it has in tackling crime and protecting the public. Part of this work is to establish a structure for complaints to be considered appropriately.

Public and private agencies that are operating CCTV should have suitable and open processes for handling complaints and concerns from members of the public. Rennison will focus on dealing with complaints around standards and help explain to the public how they can complain about intrusive or ineffective CCTV placement or use.

Yoshikazu Hirano, General Manager, Security Solutions, Sony Electronics Asia Pacific believes that this new role shows the rising importance of surveillance among the public sector. “The CCTV industry has never had a regulator role. This new initiative shows the importance of CCTV to the governments and the role it plays to average people worldwide. This role will help to educate the public on the benefits of surveillance, the operational workflow and the availability of feedback channels when CCTV has been misused,” said Hirano. Sony is a Gold sponsor at the FutureCCTV Forum in April.

Asia has been installing CCTV systems, but without much thought going on how they can use these systems efficiently, according to Hirano. He added that Rennison’s experience and expertise will certainly add value to the discussion at the forum.