Practical considerations for system owners and stakeholders

If you own or operate a CCTV system, don't miss this forum!

Are you getting the best return on your CCTV investment? How do you know?

Whether you work in the public or private sector, as a CCTV system owner or operator you face significant challenges in juggling technical, regulatory and budgetary constraints while still delivering the desired results from your system.

Technology is advancing, but there are mixed messages in the market place. Is analogue still better than IP? Is NVR better than DVR? What will the regulatory and technical landscape look like in five years time?

The International Security Management and Crime Prevention Institute (ISMCPI), in cooperation with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS), is hosting a CCTV Directions Forum in September to answer questions and provide the opportunity for owners and operators of CCTV systems to meet and exchange ideas.

Run over a day and a half, the CCTV Directions Forum will be held in both Perth and Brisbane in September 2008. During the first day, local and international speakers will present papers on topics including:

• CCTV in Australia and New Zealand: Reflections on local and international research
• Privately owned CCTV systems in publicly accessible spaces: meeting all the challenges and balancing requirements
• Intelligence, Evidence and CCTV: Security and operational considerations
• Regulation, Licensing and Accreditation: Current requirements and future directions
• Calculating the return on the CCTV investment: A practical approach for public and privately owned systems
• CCTV and the Law: Legal issues and experiences
• CCTV and Privacy: Meeting legislative and moral obligations
• CCTV Funding: Budgets, grants, and lamington sales

The second day includes round-table discussions lead by the speakers, followed by an open forum during which delegates will have the opportunity to advance ideas to be compiled and sent onto regulators.

The presentation on "Privately owned CCTV systems in publicly accessible spaces" will deal with the challenges faced by property managers, retailers and other large private sector CCTV system operators. This case study features the experiences of one of North America's largest investors, owners and managers of commercial real estate.

Professors Rick Sarre and Tim Prenzler will present information relating to legal issues, regulation and privacy, including revised material to be published in the second edition of their invaluable book, "The Law of Private Security in Australia", which is due to be published not long after the CCTV Directions Forum. This book, the only one of its kind in Australia, was first published in 2005 and contains chapters devoted to, amongst other things, privacy, electronic surveillance and legal liabilities.

Ultimately, most CCTV systems are intended to contribute to risk managing objectives, but all too frequently the objectives for the systems and individual cameras are not well defined. This lack of clarity in objectives makes it difficult to calculate a return on the CCTV investment. You will not want to miss this highly practical presentation, which will fully explore the "ROI" plight of both public and private sector system owners.

It is somewhat self-evident that in many cases, video from publicly and privately owned CCTV system is destined for use in support of an investigation and possible prosecution of an offender. Regrettably, the true potential of this resource is often not able to be realised due to a variety of factors. The presentation on "Intelligence, Evidence and CCTV" will be lead by Jim Bailey, recently retired from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and will explore internal and external use of CCTV systems for operational security, prosecution and intelligence purposes.

If you are involved in CCTV in any way, you will not want to miss this opportunity!

ISMCPI reserves the right to vary the program or presenters subject to operational requirements and unforseen circumstances.