On Wednesday, April 10, Hamm police will start mobile video surveillance in the area of the Bahnhofsquartier and Südstraße.
"We work every day to ensure people's safety and also their perceived safety in this city. The use of video surveillance and the ability of police officers to intervene immediately in a dangerous situation ensures that the police are able to prevent and combat danger and prosecute," said Police Commissioner Thomas Kubera.
"The citizens of this city have a right to expect the police to use all the tools provided by the Police Act to combat crime. I am delighted that we have been able to take a further step towards meeting this requirement with the deployment of the mobile video surveillance systems."
The video surveillance was ordered by Police Commissioner Kubera for one year. The police are obliged to document measures and carry out regular evaluations to prove their proportionality at the end of the year.
The areas affected are crime hotspots in Hamm. Video surveillance is now being used in these areas in order to counteract the rising number of cases and to further strengthen citizens' sense of security. On the one hand, it enables the police to intervene quickly before crimes are committed, and on the other hand, the recordings can be used to trace completed crimes with certainty as evidence.
The video surveillance is limited in time to the periods that are particularly affected by crime, so it does not transmit permanently. The videos are monitored and evaluated in the police control center by specially trained employees. The recordings are automatically deleted after a period of 14 days. For the purposes of criminal prosecution, the video recordings may be stored for longer. Videotaping of gatherings in the areas is not permitted and does not take place. Certain areas - such as homes or doctors' surgeries - are permanently blacked out or pixelated in advance.
These are two trailers with an extendable telescopic camera system. The system can be extended to a height of up to five meters and has six cameras. Two cameras are so-called security cameras, which permanently film the lower area of the trailer to prevent damage by unauthorized persons. If the trailer is approached by people, there is an acoustic and visual alarm signal and the police are notified.
The legal basis for the mobile video surveillance is based on Section 15a of the NRW Police Act. Special signs inform citizens about the start of the video zones.
In order to ensure the greatest possible transparency, Hamm Police Headquarters asked interested citizens last week to ask questions about the video surveillance.
The questions asked are answered in the following FAQ:
The purpose of the measure is to prevent crimes in the video surveillance areas of the Bahnhofsquartier and Südstraße, to improve and increase the investigation of crimes committed at this location and thus, in conjunction with the rapid deployment of police forces, to strengthen the sense of security of the population in the observed area.
Live monitoring enables crimes and dangerous situations to be detected at an early stage and the acts or the occurrence of more serious consequences to be prevented through the immediate deployment of intervention forces. If such a situation is detected or becomes known, the video observers can promptly deploy and coordinate emergency services. This increases the risk of criminals being encountered in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene and can therefore also deter potential offenders.
The legal basis is Section 15a (1) sentence 1 no. 1 PolG NRW.
The authorization basis for the establishment of police video surveillance is derived from the Police Act of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (PolG NW).
§ 15a PolG NRW - Data collection through the open use of optical-technical means
(1) For the prevention of criminal offenses, the police may observe individual publicly accessible locations by means of image transmission and record the transmitted images if
- crimes have been repeatedly committed at this location and the nature of the location favors the commission of criminal offenses, as long as facts justify the assumption that further criminal offenses will be committed at this location or
facts justify the assumption that criminal offenses of considerable significance pursuant to Section 8 (3) are being conspired, prepared or committed there
and immediate police intervention is possible in each case. The observation shall, if not obvious, be made recognizable by appropriate measures.
(2) Data obtained pursuant to paragraph 1 may be stored for a maximum period of 14 days, unless they are required for the prosecution of criminal offences or facts justify the assumption that a person will commit criminal offences in the future and the storage is necessary for the preventive combating of criminal offences.
(3) The head of the authority shall decide on the establishment of data collection through the open use of optical-technical means.
(4) Measures pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be documented. They shall be limited to one year in each case. A review shall be carried out in good time before the expiry of the time limit to determine whether the requirements pursuant to paragraph 1 are still met. In this case, an extension of one year is permissible.
| Place | Days | Times |
| Station Quarter | Monday-Friday (except public holidays) | 12:00 am - 08:00 pm |
| South Street | Friday and Saturday | 11:00 pm - 06:00 am |
| on the day before public holidays | 11:00 pm - 06:00 am |
The two camera systems can now be set up at the following locations:
| Willy-Brandt-Platz (station forecourt) |
| Platz der Deutschen Einheit/Bahnhofstraße |
| Bahnhofstraße/Luisenstraße |
| Südstraße (Nassauer Straße) |
| Südstraße (Königstraße at the level of Santa-Monica-Platz) |
| Martin-Luther-Straße/Marktplatz |
Below you will find map excerpts and an illustration of the signs.
Before entering an area under police observation, those affected are made aware of this by the specially attached signs.
In addition to the illustrations, the signs also contain information about the person responsible.
The Hamm Police Headquarters (PP Hamm) processes personal data to the extent necessary in the context of stationary video surveillance in the areas of "Südstraße" and "Bahnhofsquartier" by recording video images. In accordance with Art. 13 and 14 EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, PP Hamm provides the following information:
Name and contact of the controller
Polizeipräsidium Hamm
Grünstrasse 10
59065 Hamm
Phone: 02381/916-0
Fax: 02381/1199
Email: poststelle.hamm [at] polizei.nrw.de (poststelle[dot]hamm[at]polizei[dot]nrw[dot]de)
Contact of the official data protection officer PP Hamm
Phone: 02381/916-0
Fax: 02381/485-1130
Email: datenschutz.hamm [at] polizei.nrw.de
By making private areas unrecognizable, the protection of the home pursuant to Art. 13 GG and the right to informational self-determination pursuant to Art. 2 para. 1 i. V. m. Art. 1 para. 1 GG of persons staying there.
Insofar as video surveillance makes it possible to view residential and business premises through windows (including shop windows) or residential and business entrances, these are made unrecognizable by pixelation, so that it is ensured that these rooms can no longer be observed or recorded.
The pixelation is permanent.
In principle, the data on the video server is automatically deleted after 14 days (the basis for authorization can be found in § 15a PolG NRW - see question about legal basis).
If recorded data is required for criminal investigations, it must be saved by the observers/evaluators and made available to the relevant department without delay.
The data protection officer of the Polizeipräsidium shall be informed of this.
The conditions of use of stored video data are governed by Sections 23, 24 PolG NRW.
The material is viewed and evaluated by specially trained video observers.
The video observer's dedicated workstation is located at the control center, so we have short distances.
In other words, if such a situation is detected or becomes known, the video observers can quickly bring in extra intervention forces and coordinate them accordingly.
The video surveillance order is initially limited to one year in accordance with Section 15a (4) PoLG NRW.
The North Rhine-Westphalia police have a total of ten mobile video surveillance systems, which were co-developed by the Landesamt für zentrale Polizeiliche Dienste (LZPD).
The systems are therefore produced in-house by the NRW police and can therefore be deployed throughout the state in all 47 district police authorities as required.
This means that they are mobile systems, which also have the advantage that they can be deployed and set up flexibly and precisely as required.
Two of the ten systems are currently in the possession of Polizeipräsidium Hamm. There are currently no plans to allocate further camera systems.
