Fife Council currently has approximately 1420 CCTV cameras installed across 220 properties in a range of Services; for example Education, Housing and Social Work.
CCTV Systems installed at Fife Council Properties are intended:
- to provide a safer environment for building users, visitors and the general public
- for the prevention and detection of crime
- for the detection or prosecution of offenders
- to lessen the economic costs associated with vandalism to the properties
- for the detection and prevention of anti-social behaviour
- to monitor the integrity of Council premises and assets
- to assist with health and safety
- to assist in the event of a civil emergency or disaster
- to assist Fife Council in its regulatory and enforcement functions
- to provide information on access and usage of Council premises for the purposes of monitoring service performance and improving service delivery.
The systems are primarily for community safety and crime prevention / detection and not for staff monitoring.
In general the systems are operated by designated members of staff on site, they are operational on a 24/7 basis. The systems are not monitored live and are only reviewed by a designated staff member when an incident is brought to light and an investigation is requested.
The CCTV images are used to record post event, incident and after event data that can be used as prosecutable evidence by the local police in pursuit of a conviction following an investigation.
Repairs and maintenance to the CCTV systems are co-ordinated by Property Services on behalf of the various Services, these works are undertaken by a sub-contractor appointed by Fife Council. The repairs are paid for by each individual Service.
Subject Access Requests
CCTV images of individuals are covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. This allows people to request access to CCTV images of themselves held by Fife Council.
As CCTV images are not held by the Council for very long – if you wish to view images it should be fairly soon after the image was recorded. A Public Image Data Request Form (PIDR1) is available within the Related Publications section below and outlines how to request images from Fife Council.
Solicitors and other Third Parties
Solicitors and any other Third Party may wish to request CCTV images of individuals for legal purposes. The Third Party Image Request for Evidence Form (TPIR1) must be used for this purpose and this is also available within the Related Publications section below.
Further information is provided within Fife Council’s CCTV Code of Practice which is also available below.