Wednesday, 9 June 2010
New CCTV cameras in Gradham
TEN new CCTV cameras will go live on Friday in Gradham in a crackdown on crime and anti-social behaviour in the community.
The system, which has been installed by Oveston Council in conjunction with the police, is also expected to boost community safety.
The measures come after an increase in drug deals on the town centre streets, causing great concern to police and local residents.
Andrew Slator, chairman of Gradham Chamber of Trade, said: “Town centre crime in Gradham has been of increasing concern over the past couple of years. We have been plagued by young hoodies and gangs of shoplifters and we hope the cameras will help deter and detect the culprits.”
During the day the cameras can alert control room staff at Trinity House, to shoplifters, triggering an immediate response from the Council’s Neighbourhood Patrollers and the Neighbourhood Policing Team, which can act on information in a matter of seconds.
While the cameras will help track criminals, they can also pick up on things such as lone females. If someone in the control rooms sees a woman on her own at night they can follow her on camera to make sure she is safe.
The cameras also use the automatic number place recognition (ANPR) system to monitor any vehicle that has been stolen, has no tax disc or is possibly related to criminal activity, such as drugs. Four of these cameras will have night-time capability, allowing them to identify number plates clearly even in the dark.
Chief Superintendent Francis Collison, Devisional Commander in Oveston Police, expects the rate of arrest in Gradham town centre to go up as a result of the new cameras, adding: “Throughout the district about 90 arrests are being made every month using CCTV – so troublemakers, drug dealers and criminals should be warned.”
The system, which has been installed by Oveston Council in conjunction with the police, is also expected to boost community safety.
The measures come after an increase in drug deals on the town centre streets, causing great concern to police and local residents.
Andrew Slator, chairman of Gradham Chamber of Trade, said: “Town centre crime in Gradham has been of increasing concern over the past couple of years. We have been plagued by young hoodies and gangs of shoplifters and we hope the cameras will help deter and detect the culprits.”
During the day the cameras can alert control room staff at Trinity House, to shoplifters, triggering an immediate response from the Council’s Neighbourhood Patrollers and the Neighbourhood Policing Team, which can act on information in a matter of seconds.
While the cameras will help track criminals, they can also pick up on things such as lone females. If someone in the control rooms sees a woman on her own at night they can follow her on camera to make sure she is safe.
The cameras also use the automatic number place recognition (ANPR) system to monitor any vehicle that has been stolen, has no tax disc or is possibly related to criminal activity, such as drugs. Four of these cameras will have night-time capability, allowing them to identify number plates clearly even in the dark.
Chief Superintendent Francis Collison, Devisional Commander in Oveston Police, expects the rate of arrest in Gradham town centre to go up as a result of the new cameras, adding: “Throughout the district about 90 arrests are being made every month using CCTV – so troublemakers, drug dealers and criminals should be warned.”
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