Our closed circuit television (CCTV) service is designed to make Hammersmith & Fulham a safer place to live, work and visit. Our operators work in partnership with the local police, community and businesses to help in the fight against crime and disorder within the borough.
We have effective and reliable CCTV schemes that cover public areas such as town centres, and other schemes that cover council housing. Our town centre schemes are designed to proactively deal with crime and anti-social behaviour. Our housing schemes are designed in accordance with MET Police guidance to provide effective coverage, making council homes safer places to live.
How does it work?
Our CCTV control room controls a network of approximately 1,850 cameras throughout H&F. We also link to shopping centres, football stadiums and other buildings to provide seamless coverage of high activity areas.
We have direct radio communications with the Met Police. We operate our own radio system in partnership with the Parks Police and Neighbourhood Wardens to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as shops and pubs to help deal with shoplifting and other issues.
Pictures from the cameras are continuously recorded and can be monitored when required. All footage is deleted after 30 days. We only store footage for more than 30 days when it is related to specific incidents.
What we use CCTV for
We use the CCTV system to:
- deter anti-social behaviour
- disrupt and prevent street crime
- look for illegal waste dumping
- observe unlicensed activity in entertainment premises
- observe fraudulent behaviour
- gather evidence for court proceedings
- identify persons wanted by the police
- emergency planning.
The Home Office believes CCTV surveillance is particularly valuable when used as part of a wider crime reduction strategy, helping strengthen partnership with the local police.
Our award-winning team of CCTV operators work in a modern control room 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. They proactively seek out crime and anti-social behaviour. They assist with thousands of police stops every year, and around 500 arrests are made by the police that would be unlikely without CCTV.
Our CCTV control room and operators are monitored by CCTV, and access to the control room is strictly controlled. Our operators are highly skilled, fully understand relevant laws and take everyone's rights seriously.
Road traffic accidents
We have many cameras covering the busy roads in H&F. These often catch accidents between moving traffic and the footage can be extremely useful in determining fault. If you are involved in an incident on our roads we will provide the police and insurance companies with footage to help with their cases. Please inform the police and your insurance company as soon as possible – they can contact us at VSSinfo@lbhf.gov.uk – so we can check our recordings and supply copies if anything is found.
If we have cameras in the location of the incident, a payment of £294 will be required. Payment will be required before we search for footage of the incident.
Our cameras are generally set up to capture overview images of an area of interest, meaning that unless the incident is actively monitored personal data is not usually captured. Most road traffic accidents do not contain personal data. Therefore, we are not able to release information to individuals as a Subject Access Request.
TfL cameras
Transport for London (TfL) have an extensive network of cameras across London. These cameras are used to monitor live traffic flow and are not recorded. Please be aware - not all cameras on the streets are operated by H&F Council, and may not actually be recorded.
Access to footage - how to make a Subject Access Request
CCTV is treated in the same way as all data the council stores about individuals. You are entitled to a copy of any information we hold about you. Your rights and the process for accessing CCTV data relating to you is explained in the Subject Access Request form below.
For more information:
- read the H&F Code of Practice for the Operation of Public Space Closed Circuit Televisions (pdf 260KB)
- download the CCTV Subject Access Request form (pdf 547KB).
If you have any queries or need to contact the CCTV team, you can email them at VSSinfo@lbhf.gov.uk