Colchester's 400 CCTV cameras 'monitored by one worker', worker claims

A former employee of Colchester Amphora Trading, which is responsible for monitoring the city’s CCTV cameras, claims the cameras are often left in the hands of one person overnight, except for on Friday and Saturday nights when two colleagues are on hand.

The company is wholly owned by Colchester Council and, according to the former worker, they monitor around 400 cameras which cover 48 monitors.

The firm also runs Helpline – which provides a falls recovery service for vulnerable individuals.

Cameras - The ex-employee claims one person will often be left to monitor 400 cameras on their own (Image: Unsplash)

The ex-employee said: “When I started, two people would always monitor the cameras overnight.

“This changed during the Covid pandemic, going down occasionally to one person on cameras, but this has become the norm in the evenings, and sometimes during the day too.”

They also claim manning the phone lines is the camera operator’s responsibility, meaning during busy periods – as well as in comfort breaks, the cameras are often left unattended.

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The whistleblower, who resigned over worries the cameras were not being used to their full extent, said when they raised their concerns they were told not to worry as all the footage is recorded.

They added: “I thought the idea was to stop things and catch perpetrators in action.

“I once caught someone drilling locks. I was able to contact the police who made an arrest and the CCTV helped to bring a charge.

“When you look back at a lot of recorded incidents the cameras aren’t properly zoomed in, so the pictures aren’t good.”

A Colchester Council spokesperson said investment in new digital CCTV has seen an increase in the number of arrests.

They added: “The monitoring of CCTV cameras is delivered in conjunction with the provision of the out-of-hours service for Colchester Council, Colchester Borough Homes, and Helpline – a critical service for vulnerable residents.

“These services have been delivered without fail 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we are proud to say that Helpline was the only careline in Essex to maintain a full service throughout the Covid pandemic.

“We have clear and robust business continuity plans in place, supported by a resilient and flexible team, to ensure all these important services are delivered.”