The use of closed circuit television to support the police at a political conference

The planning, implementation and use of closed circuit television (CCTV) to reduce crime in town centres and shopping malls are well documented. The deployment and use of covert television systems by law enforcement agencies has also been successful. Where commercial CCTV systems, installed for one purpose, are used by the police to support the security at a political conference the following requires careful planning and execution: the operation of the equipment; the requirements of the operation command; and the training of the operators. The Dorset Police, a UK provincial force, have learnt many lessons from their past experiences of securing political conferences. Those experiences strongly influenced the way in which they used CCTV for the political conference held in October 1996 in a town in their force area. This paper will share some of the lessons and methods that ensured that the best performance was obtained from the commercially available CCTV systems