Inside the Watford CCTV room monitoring the town 24/7

These incidents are happening across different parts of Watford at the same time, but at the far end of the town centre two people are watching it all play out.

In Shady Lane police station, CCTV operators are carefully monitoring a wall of screens and dozens of cameras from across the town, occasionally jotting down times, number plates and descriptions, as a police radio interjects.

It’s an impressive set-up that few people in Watford are aware of.

There aren’t many parts of the town centre where you wouldn’t spot one of the Watford Borough Council’s 283 cameras, but residents might not know they’re being monitored 24 hours a day.

Credit: LDRS

Operators can pan many of the cameras to alter the view, rewind footage and pull back any recording from the past 30 days in an effort to keep Watford safe.

This year it will cost the council £236,000 to operate, but it is said to be "vital" to keeping residents safe and it’s invaluable to Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Related: How much CCTV do we have in Watford and how is it catching criminals?

As the huge bank of displays is being explained to me, on the radio, police officers interrupt with a description of a vulnerable person reported missing from Watford General Hospital.

Quickly, the operators were able to pull footage from outside Vicarage Road and fly through the last half an hour of video to see whether anyone matches the description.

While this is happening, the police keep providing more detail and a firmer description of who they are looking for and where they might have been spotted.

Other cameras are being found to assess another route, as officers continue to feedback new information, including that they may have left by car rather than on foot.

Minutes later, more information comes through that the vehicle had been spotted heading out of Watford, and the council’s control room isn’t able to help any further.

However, it highlighted just how quickly the operators can spring into action.

Credit: LDRS

During an hour watching the operators work there are a number of incidents that never quite come to anything – we zoom in on people crowding around a cash machine and two men are walking by sets of toilets in an underpass.

While most people will presume CCTV is used as a reactive measure after an incident has taken place, in the control room it’s shown how it can also be used proactively to stop incidents or direct the police.

During the day, the operators say potential drug deals and pickpockets are what they are mostly keeping a look-out for, while on busier nights it’s often fighting or health and welfare concerns.

I’m shown footage from a recent weekend night where a girl is laid out needing medical attention which was spotted by the camera operator, and they could work with emergency services on the ground.

A CCTV camera in Watford High Street. Credit: LDRS

Watford’s Chief Inspector Ian Grout explained how the partnership between the town’s businesses, the police and the council achieved significant results.

In 2019, a man who sexually assaulted a woman in a taxi before cameras followed his steps into a nightclub, where he then scanned his ID, allowing officers to identify him.

On busier days or nights, a police officer will also be sat inside the control room to assist those on the ground, and that partnership will continue after the force moves from Shady Lane into a new station in George Street next year.

Related: Sale completed for new police station in Watford town centre

There are also other benefits from the CCTV, which allows people to keep an eye on where the largest crowds are during games at Vicarage Road, assist with traffic insurance claims and even keeps an watch on the inside of Watford Museum.

While there’s no access to Atria Watford’s system from the control room, there’s a partnership with the shopping centre to share information when necessary.

Even when the bollards go up and down along Clarendon Road, it’s being controlled in this room at the other end of the road.

Shady Lane police station in Watford

With so much being visible, there are some privacy concerns about access to such a wide bank of live footage.

However, the council and police insisted that an assessment is carried out before every camera is placed and privacy is always considered. If houses, for example, are in view they will be blacked out on the system and can’t be altered by control room staff.

That staff have also been given specialist training, and include an experienced ex-police officer and an operator with more than a decade in the role.

Watford police chief inspector Ian Grout

Chief Inspector Grout said he hadn’t heard concerns about the use of cameras, but said the network was for the benefit of everyone in the town.

He said: "Ultimately, I think people realise it’s a great crime fighting tool and we’ve had so many good results with the cameras.

"It’s not big brother – it’s for the reassurance and safety of people who live, work and socialise in Watford."

While some councils in Hertfordshire share resources, the Chief Inspector noted that there are unique challenges in Watford – from the major shopping centre, Premier League football club and busy nightlife economy – which requires a specific focus.

He said: "On a Friday or Saturday night it means there’s two operators plus one of my officers, they can identify things before they happen. Then we can direct staff to go into it and try to prevent it.

"As opposed to saying ‘oh, there’s a fight going on there’, because they’re experienced guys and girls who work there, they can start to build up that picture [before it happens].

"It’s a bit like football as well – you can tell who’s going to be your problem and who’s going to be there to watch the game."

While the council are exploring upgrades to the system, which could feature new technology including facial recognition, the Chief Inspector was in no doubt about how successful the current set-up is in combating crime.

He added: "The quality of the cameras is exceptional, I think people,sometimes they see some of the grainy pictures on TV, but the camera quality is really good.

"It cuts down loads of work for the officers on the street, and it’s good because they’re here and the working relationship between the people that work with CCTV and my officers is really good – it’s a win-win situation."