"Police Response to Security Systems (April 2008)", published by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), is absolutely clear. Only monitored sites allocated a Unique Reference Number (URN) will receive Police response, and URNs will only be allocated to sites that are monitored by Remote Video Receiving Centres (RVRCs) accredited to British Standard BS8418.
Important Deadline: 31st December 2008
Under normal circumstances, to qualify for a URN a site must not only be monitored by a BS8418-accredited RVRC, but the CCTV system must also be designed to and installed to the BS8418 standard. However, in order to bring as many legacy systems as possible into a regulated environment, ACPO have agreed to an amnesty program where older monitored CCTV systems (not compliant with BS8418) can be allocated a URN and qualify for Police response provided the URN application is made by an accredited RVRC such as Camwatch.
This amnesty period expires on 31st December 2008. After this date, URNs will only be allocated to BS8418 compliant systems, meaning that companies that miss the deadline may have to pay for an upgrade to qualify.
- Do you rely on a Police response for your CCTV system?
- Are you concerned that your current monitoring company is not accredited to BS8418?
- Are you yet to complete and return your URN authorisation form? (Camwatch customers only)
If the answer to any of the above is "yes", please email us or call us on 0800 294 2824 immediately.
