Closed Circuit Television - CCTV

Closed Circuit Television is more commonly known as CCTV. Our CCTV system helps Staffordshire Police and local communities in safety projects. We monitor images in our control room 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We have 194 CCTV cameras around the city. Use the link from this page to find out where they are located.

Why we have CCTV

• to deter people from committing crime;
• to reduce fear of crime taking place;
• to help to detect, prevent and reduce property crime and offences against people;
• to make the city more attractive to residents, businesses, shoppers and tourists; and
• to make our city safer for everyone.

We work with other people and organisations that benefit from our CCTV system:

• Store detectives and nightclub/pub door supervisors
• City Council security
• Residents Associations and other groups
• Businesses
• Community and City Centre Wardens
• Park Rangers

How to request a new camera

If you would like a new camera to be installed, write to us with your request. You will need to tell us why you think a camera is needed and what the benefits would be. As we do not fund the costs of installing a new camera, we need to know who would pay for it. For more information contact our Parking and Security group from this link on this page.

Can I get a copy of camera footage?

You have the legal right to apply for access to images of yourself. Strict rules apply to releasing the images and information that we have. Use the Subject Data Access Request form below to request an image from our CCTV system. To make a request you will need to: complete the form, pay a £10 fee and provide suitable identification – such as your passport.

The Subject Data Access Request form is in PDF format. You can view the form with Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader here. If you are using access technology you can follow this link to use Access Adobe to convert this file into html.

Getting more out of our system

We are developing our CCTV system to help us deliver services more efficiently. Here is a summary of our developments.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition is operated in association with Staffordshire Police. We use the latest camera and computer technology to automatically identify vehicle registration numbers. Our CCTV cameras can identify stolen vehicles and, by linking our system to the DVLA's database, can spot vehicles with no road tax or MOT. In the future we will also be able to identify if a vehicle has no insurance.

Bus Lane Enforcement. So that our public transport system can work well, it is important that our bus lanes are not congested. Automatic Number Plate Recognition can be used to monitor bus lanes, identify drivers misusing them and help keep them free from congestion.

Digital Recording. We have mostly used video tape for recording CCTV images. Developments in Digital Video Disc, DVD, recordings now give us the same quality image with extra benefits such as faster and easier image searches.

Contact us

Use the link from this page to find out how to contact us.