Dashboard evaluation camera surveillance

Municipality of Amsterdam

Data analysis for evaluating the need to apply camera surveillance at a specific location to maintain public order.

Last change on 18th of November 2024, at 16:20 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: Field not filled in.
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Public Order and Safety

Begin date

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Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

Beleidsregel cameratoezicht ter handhaving van de openbare orde in Amsterdam | Lokale wet- en regelgeving (overheid.nl)

Responsible use

Goal and impact

Camera surveillance can be instituted to maintain public order when necessary. Camera surveillance has several functions.

- Camera surveillance increases the efficiency and effectiveness of action by police, municipal enforcement officers and emergency services. It helps police, enforcement and supervisors to get to the scene faster;

- In addition, camera surveillance works preventively: it helps prevent public order problems and criminal offences.

- Camera surveillance also has a repressive function: police and judicial authorities can use the camera images for investigation purposes;

- Finally, camera surveillance makes citizens and entrepreneurs feel safer.

Anyone entering a camera surveillance area must be clearly informed of this. This is done by placing signs and informing local residents and entrepreneurs in the area concerned. The decision in which the mayor announces the designation of a camera surveillance area is published.

The recorded camera images are viewed live and/or stored. Live viewing is done only on the days and times when it is necessary, under the direction of the police.

The police is the only authority that has free access to the servers where the images are stored. The municipality itself does not have access to the servers. The cameras are always on but the images are not always viewed live.

Considerations

Mayors can designate areas for public order enforcement where camera surveillance takes place for a certain period of time. Camera surveillance is used to make public spaces safer. Cameras monitor nightlife areas, shopping centres and areas of high nuisance or crime. Camera surveillance allows the municipality, together with the police, to act quickly when necessary. To evaluate the need for camera surveillance, data analysis provides input for policy considerations on whether or not to extend camera surveillance.

We use only the necessary data. There is also evaluation with relevant partners and colleagues from the areas in addition to what can be seen on the dashboard.

Human intervention

The display of the recordings gives the policy officer different types of input to make a consideration on camera surveillance. This is part of a broader consideration, which can lead to different actions, such as: changing the camera's setting, removing the camera, placing additional camera in designated area, formulating viewing orders or adjusting viewing orders.

Risk management

We use only necessary data, access to data analysis through a dashboard is limited to a small group of people, the substantive consideration of whether to renew or not is still human. So the dashboard is only a supportive and insightful tool.

The registrations based on camera images concern situations, actions and behaviour. No personal characteristics are processed.

The initial selection of camera surveillance areas is not based on information from this system.

The cameras are always on, but the data are recorded at specific moments only. This can give a distorted picture of the issues.

Incidents that are captured by a camera, but not looked out at that moment by the observer are not counted as registration.

The data processed are derived from camera images. They are a human interpretation of the images.

Operations

Data

Only the police have free access to the servers where the images are stored. The municipality itself does not have access to the servers.

Observers make records of public order disturbances based on what they see on the camera images. This information is loaded into a dashboard and can be ordered by location and type of disturbance. This ordering is used in analyses for evaluating the need to extend camera surveillance at a specific location. For example: the police record public order disturbances such as drug dealing and overt violence. If that was the reason for setting up camera surveillance, it can be selected specifically for evaluation in the filters present in the dashboard. In addition, various other registrations and interventions (reports by citizens, registrations and possible impositions of enforcement) that the municipality receives are also visible.

Technical design

The registrations made by the police are visually represented in a dashboard by bar charts, timelines and map view with a point location where the registration is about. For example, by adding up these registrations by area and offence type. Users can select a camera surveillance area and view the number of registrations and interventions over time and select by type of registrations.

Data type:

Police registrations obv camera images, enforcement registrations, citizen reports. Data collected by Datawarehouse OOV (Municipality of Amsterdam).

Architecture of the model:

Police registrations are visually represented in a dashboard by bar charts, timelines and map view with a point location where the registration is about. For example, adding up these registrations by area and offence type. Users can select a camera surveillance area and view the number of registrations and interventions over time and select by type of registrations.

External provider