FOI T1514/24 - CCTV

We can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.

We are able to disclose the located information to you as follows.

You asked:

 In relation to CCTV for security of police estates onyl:

1. What brand of CCTV cameras are in use? If there are multiple please provide a list

A response to this part of your submission will not be provided and by withholding we rely on the following exemptions.

S24 (1) - National Security

S31 (1) (a)(b) - Law Enforcement

Sections 24, and 31 are prejudice based qualified exemptions and there is a requirement to articulate the harm that would be caused in its disclosure as well as carrying out a public interest test.

Harm

To disclose information to the public at large as to what security CCTV we have down to brand, could be used to the advantage of terrorists or criminal organisations in causing disruption or harm to both officers and staff of Northumbria Police and to members of the pubic.  Information that undermines the operational integrity and security of police sites and will adversely affect public safety and have a negative impact on both national security and law enforcement should not be disclosed to the public at large.

Public Interest Test

Factors favouring disclosure - Section 24

The public are entitled to know what public funds are spent on and what security measures are in place, and by confirming what is in place would lead to a better-informed public.

Factors against disclosure - Section 24

By disclosing this information would make those security measures less effective.  This would lead to the compromise of the security of police buildings and of harm to the public, ie a cyber-criminal could use such information to attack a particular CCTV system, which would then negatively affect the infrastructure of policing.  By affecting the infrastructure of policing the nation’s security will be more vulnerable to terrorism.

Factors favouring disclosure - Section 31

This would enable the public to have a better understanding of the effectiveness of the police and about how the police protect its buildings, workforce and the general public using those building for whatever reason.  It would greatly assist in the quality and accuracy of public debate. Where public funds are being spent, there is a public interest in accountability and justifying the use of public money.

Factors against disclosure- Section 31

The release of this type of information would better inform those will ill intent how to target a cyber-attack within the police estate.  If a force was hacked and this lead to CCTV systems not working efficiently then a negative impact would occur to the prevention or detection of crime and the security of both staff and members of the public.  Cyber-crime can lead to forces being unable to carry out their objectives.  Northumbria Police would not want to provide information that could lead to criminals being better informed on the vulnerabilities, or perceived vulnerabilities a force has, or to target any security systems being utilised. The realise of such information would facilitate criminals or those with criminal intent to launch cyber-attacks which then may result in illegal access to police CCTV systems and undermine the security of police sites.  Obviously this is to be avoided.

Balance Test

The security of Northumbria Police and of the country is of paramount importance and the Police service will not divulge any information if to do so would place the safety of any building, workforce or individual at risk, undermine National Security or compromise law enforcement.

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing operations and providing assurance that the police service is appropriately and effectively engaging with the threat posed by various groups or individuals, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police systems, investigations and operations in the highly sensitive areas such as extremism, crime prevention, public disorder and terrorism prevention.

We have therefore considered the information held about CCTV hardware is at a level which would risk exploitation by criminals to infiltrate cameras, and thus compromise the security of police sites.

As much as there is public interest in knowing that policing activity is appropriate and balanced this will only be overridden in exceptional circumstances.  The detail sought would reveal security systems and therefore it is our opinion that for these issues the balancing test for disclosure is not made out.

2. How many cameras are in list across the estate? (If there are multiple vendors please could you provide a breakdown of how many devices per vendor)

348

3. What is the annual spend on new CCTV cameras?

There is no dedicated annual budget for replacement of CCTV cameras.  As per our response to point 5 below, cameras are replaced on failure, however if we were asked to identify actual costs this would exceed the permitted 18-hour threshold and Section 12 would then be applicable and your whole request refused.  Rather than do so we have supplied as much information as we have been able to in order to assist.

4. Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this?

 Head of Estates.  They can be contacted by email: [email protected]

5. When did you last replace the cameras?

Cameras are replaced on failure

6. When are the existing cameras due to be replaced?

As above, cameras are replaced on failure