Can Police Legally Seize Your CCTV Footage?

This is a wide-ranging question from millions of CCTV users around which is whether police have the power to seize CCTV or not. If you also don’t know the answer then this article is just for you.

Yes, police can seize your CCTV if you have broken the surveillance law using your CCTV. Again, they can seize it if any evidence of a crime was recorded by that CCTV. However, they’ll need a warrant or court order for seizing your CCTV.

As the owner of a CCTV, you must know some facts about whether can police seize your CCTV or not. All the detailed information about when police can seize your CCTV, what they will do with it, and what you can do if police seize your CCTV are explained in this article.

So, don’t waste any of your valuable time and quickly learn them below.

What Powers Do Police Have to Seize CCTV?

According to The United States Department of Justice, police can seize any electronic surveillance which is evidence in relation to an offense that he is investigating, and that is necessary to seize in order to prevent the evidence from being concealed, lost, altered, or destroyed.

This means police can legally seize your CCTV if that has been used to record a crime. So, when they can seize your CCTV, and what will happen next? To learn, let’s move to the next section below.

Why Do Police Seize CCTV?

According to the law, police have the power to seize any CCTVs that have any link or relation to a crime. You may wonder when police can get only the footage that they need, then why would they seize the whole CCTV?

Well, the reason for seizing the CCTV is that the police aren’t familiar with every CCTV. Again, as CCTV is forensically significant, only forensic examiners have the lawful right to examine the video of a CCTV.

Even if you’re not involved in any crime, police can still seize your CCTV camera for a while. For example, someone has passed through the road in front of your property and the police can seize the CCTV camera for getting an extra bit of evidence they need.

The police would need to access your CCTV in the first instance. They should explain why would they need access to that. As they already have the search warrant, you shouldn’t deny accessing to your CCTV footage.

What Will Police Do with Your CCTV After Seizing It?

Once they find any evidence in any footage from your CCTV, they would request you to take the evidence with them for further investigation. They will match the clock on your camera to the videos embedded in the EXIF (Exchangeable Image file) data, for example, to verify the exact time when the footage was captured or when the incident happened.

Sometimes it can happen that the CCTV is used to capture many footages or they would need any footage from the past. In that case, they would seize the CCTV. The police do not have the right to delete any of the footage from your CCTV without a court order. And you’ll surely get your CCTV back in due course.

But if you have broken any surveillance law using your CCTV, then they will seize your CCTV and you might get charged for that. Let’s quickly discuss the surveillance law in short.

Video Surveillance Regulations to Follow by a CCTV Owner

If you don’t know your recording boundaries, then here is what you need to follow:

• If you are using video surveillance on a commercial property, you must register with the ICO and state the purpose of the system. Depending on the size of your business, you may need to pay a data protection fee.
• If you’re using video surveillance in a public place, or office, you must need to place signs which clearly state that they are under CCTV and audio surveillance.
• You can’t keep the CCTV footage for longer than necessary (31 days).
• You need to ensure the recording is saved and they aren’t being watched without any valid reason.
• You can’t install surveillance cameras in private places, such as toilets. Also, you need to ensure the CCTV isn’t violating the personal space of your neighbors.
• You need to ensure that the CCTV isn’t pointing at somewhere beyond your land and boundaries.

If you still have any confusion about your current CCTV system or audio recording setup, seek the help of a professional who can guide you through the process and laws.

What to Do When Police Want to Seize Your CCTV?

When the police will ask to seize your CCTV, you can’t deny it. If you deny giving your CCTV, the police have the lawful right to use force to take your CCTV from you. If they have to use force, they would probably also arrest you for Assaulting or Obstructing a Constable in the Execution of his duty (section 51 of the Police Act 1964).

So, here is the instruction about what you should do when the police will seize your CCTV.

1. Note down their shoulder number. The ranked inspector or higher may not have one displayed on their shoulder. In that case, get it from them and write it down.
2. Note down their rank and name. If they don’t have any rank or name displayed on their uniform, ask them to see a warrant card and write the information.
3. Ask for a receipt of your pieces of equipment that are seized by them. Also, note how much footage is on your hard disk. If you can’t get back the exact footage, or your CCTV in the future, you can file a complaint for criminal damage and/or offenses under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 (probably section 3:1a)
4. Ask for an estimate about when you can get your CCTV back.
5. Ask where you can get your CCTV back. It will probably be the police station where you can get your CCTV back.

We would recommend you go to the nearest police station and file a complaint immediately after your CCTV is seized. Even if the seizure is lawful, your complaint will ensure that it is done lawfully, and the forensic examination will probably be expedited because of it. Which means you’ll get your CCTV back faster.

DISCLAIMER – I am not a solicitor but I have done some research on it. So, I believe the contents of this post are accurate, and none of this should be construed as legal advice. Please consult with your own solicitor before acting on any of the above.

Frequently Asked Questions And Answers

Can Police Disable Your Security Cameras?

Legally, No. Police cannot disable your security camera. However, if you’ve broken the surveillance law, then they can. But if your CCTV is disabled by any police officer without breaking any law, it can happen that they were trying to destroy a cell phone video and your security camera was inside that range. Thus, it was accidentally disabled.

Can Police Access My Security Cameras?

A police officer or a law enforcement officer doesn’t have legal access to your security camera without your concern or without a search warrant. However, they can ask you to access your security camera and even they can seize your camera for further investigation. In that case, you should contact an attorney.

Can Police Jam Cameras?

Yes, police can jam your camera and this type of jamming is legal in the United States. However, selling, advertising, or using signal jammers by the common people is unlawful.

Conclusion

All the detailed information about whether can police seize your CCTV is explained in this article and we hope you’ve got your answer after reading this. If the police already have seized your CCTV, we would suggest you contact an attorney for that. For any kinds of further queries, leave a comment in the comment section below.