– We have not been aware that the police have wanted storage for eight weeks, says security manager Ola Stavnsborg in the country’s largest real estate company, Olav Thon Gruppen. Many private and public companies have video surveillance outdoors. They want to secure themselves against burglary and vandalism. Shortly after two people were killed and 21 were injured, police were provided with surveillance footage from the Thon hotels Rosenkrantz and Bristol. They are located in the area where the shooting took place. But five days after the terror, the police asked for more help. The main rule is that video recordings must be deleted after seven days. If it is likely that images can be used for police investigation, they can be stored for up to 30 days. But there is an exception. Admissions can be stored longer if it may have an impact on national security or other national security interests. The Oslo police have taken advantage of this opportunity. The Oslo Police District has asked public and private actors in the area marked in yellow to save video recordings in the period from Friday 24 June at 18:30 to Saturday 25 June at 01:30. Photo: Unni Turid Grøndal / Unni Turid Grøndal They have requested that all recordings from the area marked in yellow on the map be stored for eight weeks. At the beginning of July, there was a shooting at a shopping center in Copenhagen. That same evening, the police went out on Twitter. They urged stores and others to ensure photo and video surveillance. After the shooting at the Fields shopping center in Copenhagen, the police asked shops and similar to secure photo and video surveillance from the area the same evening. – Recordings have been deleted In Oslo, the police call went out through the media five days after the terrorist incident. They wanted to secure the opportunity to collect images from other areas if the investigation showed that there was a need for it. Security chief Ola Stavnsborg in the Olav Thon Group states that they did not receive the invitation. They were also not notified in the usual way as the police usually do. – I understand that the police have a capacity problem. If the Olav Thon Group had been informed, storage capacity would have been a major challenge. Ola Stavnsborg is head of security in the Olav Thon Group. Photo: ARTUR DE CARMO / news – A second film is 25 pictures. There will be large amounts of data to be stored. It requires a lot of capacity. The Olav Thon Group has a total of three hotels in the area where the Oslo police have encouraged the storage of video recordings. They are monitored by 50-60 cameras. A fraction of the cameras are outdoors. Up high in the picture you see a surveillance camera on the wall belonging to Hotel Bristol. It is across the street for where the shooting took place. Photo: Jens Christian Sundby / news Up in the picture you see a surveillance camera on the wall that belongs to Hotel Bristol. It’s across the street from where the shooting took place. Photo: Jens Christian Sundby / news All surveillance photos from the Thon hotels were automatically deleted seven days after the mass shooting. But it may not mean that much. The head of security in the Thon group believes that the surveillance photos they take outside are not of much help to the police. – Very little value There are strict rules for camera surveillance in public places. Basically, you can only film what is necessary for the business. For security reasons. To prevent crime. It should be filmed as little as possible in the public space where people travel. Cameras outside Thon hotels film entrances, along facades and a strip of pavement at the bottom of the wall. Everything that is not Thon’s property is shaded away. The cord. – The Data Inspectorate sets very strict requirements for what we are allowed to film. We relate to that. – What value do you think the surveillance photos you take outside the hotels have for the police investigation? – Very small. We only film exactly what happens outside with us, says Stavnsborg. The head of security wished they were allowed to capture more with their cameras. – There is a common interest. Fight crime. Maintain peace and order. And he thinks it would have been more valuable to the police. – They would get a lot more pictures to work with in such serious cases as what happened around Hotel Rosenkrantz. They would probably get a solution to cases in a different way, says security manager Ola Stavnsborg in the Olav Thon Group. Why are the rules strict? Camera surveillance can be a breach of privacy. Therefore, the rules are strict. – Basically, we should have a free society where people should be able to travel freely without being registered or monitored and know that the recordings will not be used in retrospect, says Jan Henrik Mjønes Nielsen in the Data Inspectorate. Jan Henrik Mjønes Nielsen is a senior legal adviser in the Danish Data Protection Agency. Photo: Ilja C. Hendel / © Ilja C. Hendel He largely agrees with the head of security in the Olav Thon Group. Surveillance photos can be of little help to the police. – It is clear that with the strict rules and when companies do this correctly and do not capture places that should not be filmed, this can have little value for the police. But he emphasizes that this is not up to the Data Inspectorate to consider. Is it a paradox that if companies film more than they are allowed to, then this can be of greater help to the police? – Yes absolutely. That can be a dilemma. We have cases where too much information is obtained, and where this is used as evidence in criminal cases. Want to remove the cord The Oslo police notice the strict rules for camera surveillance. – On a general basis, it can sometimes mean that the police do not receive the necessary information to solve the case, says police attorney Børge Enoksen in the Oslo police district. Børge Enoksen is a police lawyer in the Oslo police district. Photo: Camilla Svennæs Bergland / news Sladden on photos from the Thon hotels has its consequences. – This means that the police do not receive all the information that could have been available. The Oslo police are now investigating whether it is possible to remove the cord in the photos. So far they have not received a final answer. There may be more than the Olav Thon Group who have not received the invitation to store surveillance images for eight weeks. – There is always a risk that the information that is only given in the media does not reach. If the Oslo police have so far benefited from photos from this area, they will not respond. – Video material is absolutely central evidence in all cases of this nature. We can not comment on which material is relevant at the moment, says police lawyer Børge Enoksen.
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The country’s largest real estate company did not know that the police asked for help – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
