Earlier this month, the UK’s Lancashire Constabulary made headlines when it announced its new NiCE2SHARE campaign. The initiative is geared at encouraging homes and businesses with CCTV cameras to register those cameras via Lancashire’s Community Portal. The force is describing the initiative as a ‘digital neighbourhood watch’ aimed at deterring and solving crimes quicker. The NiCE2SHARE initiative is made possible as a result of Lancashire Constabulary’s deployment of the NiCE Investigate Digital Evidence Management System.
Prior to the force’s deployment of NiCE Investigate, a large number of business crimes often went unresolved, due to the difficulties businesses encountered sharing CCTV video and other digital evidence. NiCE2SHARE addresses this issue by providing a way for businesses (and private citizens) to voluntarily pre-register their video cameras on Lancashire Constabulary’s Community Portal.
If CCTV is needed for an investigation, it used to be the case that an investigator would need to get in their car and physically drive to the crime scene, canvas the area, find any relevant video, copy that video onto CDs and transport it back to the office. When they arrived at the office, they would oftentimes find the video was not even playable. So, converting the video would take even more time.
The Community Portal streamlines this process enormously because all registered cameras are geolocated on a map which investigators can view. When a crime occurs, an investigator can quickly email a request, and the business can immediately upload the video through the Portal. NiCE Investigate automatically transcodes the video into a playable format and deposits it into the investigator’s case folder to jumpstart the investigation.
In an article published by the BBC, Lancashire Constabulary’s Assistant Chief Constable Russell Procter said: “NiCE Investigate is an incredible tool that can quickly and efficiently locate cameras in an area where we may be able to source crucial evidence to aid our investigations.”
ACC Procter further commented in the Lancashire Telegraph that "Footage from CCTV and digital recording devices can provide important information on who might be involved, what may have happened, when it happened, where they have come from and what direction they have travelled.”
"Footage can, therefore, be used to prove or disprove allegations against a suspect leading to faster investigations and a better outcome for victims,” he said.
In addition to helping businesses fight crime, there are benefits for the broader community as well.
“In our experience we know that a lot of criminals are opportunistic so having some security precautions in place can act as a deterrent for your own personal property,” added ACC Procter. "NiCE2SHARE goes a step further and is an ask for people to help others in their community should their cameras catch something that could help."
Lancashire Constabulary officially launched NiCE2SHARE in January 2024. The Blackpool Gazette recently published a video of the launch of NiCE2SHARE, featuring interviews with ACC Procter and Lancashire’s Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Pratt, MBE, whose office helped to fund the initiative.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Pratt commented, “NiCE2SHARE is another way we're working in partnership with businesses and residents to deliver what we're all aiming for, less crime and safer communities. Our officers can't be everywhere all the time and so the public are so often the eyes and ears that help us stop criminals in their tracks.”
(ACC Procter said he wanted to make it clear the force would not have access to the cameras.)
Participating in NiCE2SHARE is easy for members of the community as well. All that’s needed is to complete a quick online registration, where they provide their name, address, telephone number, email address and camera information. Citizens and businesses interested in learning more are encouraged to view a short video here.
