Top policeman slams CCTV failure

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Det Chief Insp Mike Neville, head of Scotland Yard's Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office (Viido) said cameras do not act as a deterrent as many criminals assume they are not working.

And he admitted some police officers do not want to look through CCTV images "because it's hard work".

DCI Neville said only 3% of London's street robberies had been solved using CCTV images.

"Billions of pounds has been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter fiasco," he told the Security Document World Conference in London.

Scotland Yard is hoping to raise conviction rates in cases where there is CCTV evidence by putting images on the internet from next month and creating a database of images to track and identify offenders which could become a national resource for police.

DCI Neville said images are already being collated from thefts, robberies and more serious crimes across London.

"If criminals see that CCTV works they are less likely to commit crimes," he said.

DCI Neville said there needs to be more training to help officers use CCTV evidence and develop a constructive relationship with CCTV operators.