Enhanced CCTV survey
Police Scotland is seeking views on a proposal to introduce the use of a CCTV system which can find missing or vulnerable people more quickly, trace suspects and significantly reduce the time officers spend on inquiries.
BriefCam makes use of enhanced search software to assist operators review large amounts of data over multiple streams quicker and can deliver more accurate description matches for further action.
The platform was jointly purchased in 2020 by Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Council. It is used by the council to monitor traffic, journey time and footfall counting. It is not being used by Police Scotland currently.
Operators can enter and search for a specific description - such as ‘red jacket and black trousers’ – the system will present all instances of the combination requested much more quickly and help officers to protect the public more effectively.
Briefcam does have biometric (facial) functionality, however this capability is disabled at an engineering/system level and cannot be accessed by Police Scotland or Aberdeen City Council. No Live Facial Recognition or Retrospective Facial Matching will be undertaken.
The proposal to use BriefCam has been progressed through Police Scotland’s Rights Based Pathway which ensures robust processes are in place surrounding the introduction of technology in policing, focussing on human rights compliance, key ethical considerations and maximising stakeholder engagement and communication.
A survey has been opened for an initial seven weeks to gather public views on the proposal and people are encouraged to take part and share their views.
Chief Inspector Andy Barclay, of Police Scotland’s North East Division, said:
“We are considering whether to begin using an enhanced CCTV system based in Aberdeen City Centre.
“The system is designed to deliver more accurate matches and allows real time searches where an incident is still in progress. This will help Police Scotland officers particularly when they are searching for vulnerable missing people.
“When introducing new technologies in policing we carefully consider human rights and ethical implications and, as part of that, it is important that we seek the views of the public we serve.”
The Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Council CCTV unit is located within the Joint Integration hub at Aberdeen City Council’s headquarters at Marischal College and operates across 24 hours and seven days.
The Aberdeen city centre public space CCTV system consists of around 100 cameras throughout the City Centre, Torry, Mastrick and Rosemount areas.
