Home

CCTV cameras now monitored in town!

Article in the Sentinel 4th December 2006

A Private contractor is monitoring Newcastle town centre's CCTV network on busy weekend nights in the run-up to Christmas.The pilot scheme was launched this month in a bid to make the town a safer place for clubbers and Christmas party-goers to visit.
It is the first time that live footage has been monitored in the town. The move is intended to ensure a fast response from police to any violence. The contractor, based at Newcastle Borough Council's CCTV control centre in Knutton, informs police at the first sign of any trouble. Officers patrolling in the town centre are then directed to the scene of any fighting or confrontation.
Better CCTV coverage was named by the borough council's ruling Lib-Dem and Tory coalition as one of a number of priorities for the next year. Five new cameras have recently been installed in the town centre - three at the south end of High Street and two covering Paradise Street - taking the number of cameras in the town centre from 12 to 17. That is on top of the 33 cameras which the council installed at Midway multi-storey car park.
Council leader Simon Tagg said: "At the moment, the CCTV cameras are just recording and if anything happens the footage is studied after the event.
"With monitored CCTV, our officers will contact police as it happens. They will then be able to gather evidence from the scene, rather than look at it two weeks later. If there's an incident, an officer can use the cameras to track a suspect. A common complaint now is that recorded footage will often lose the offender as he walks out of view.The aim is to make the town centre safer, especially during the busy Christmas period."
If the scheme is a success, the council will look to bring in regular monitoring of CCTV footage, and, ultimately, 24-hour monitoring.
Inspector Mick Boyle, of Newcastle police, said: "It will assist us with crime reduction in the town centre and provide a deterrent. I'm sure it will make Newcastle a safer place."
Publican Mike Fallows, licensee of Brassingtons in the town centre, said: "I welcome this. If it's going to help put police in the right place at the right time, it's good." The council has also identified priorities over the next year to make streets cleaner and safer, improve recycling and enforce on-street parking restrictions more effectively. Councillor Tagg added: "We have also started to honour our election commitments on improved CCTV and better car-parking enforcement and we will be putting the emphasis firmly on cleaner streets and targeting litter and grot hotspots."

update on CCTV <click>

 

 

CCTV: Keeping the pressure on for monitoring

My Comment to the Scrutiny Committee of Jan 4th 2006 (Conservative Call in - lack of progress on setting up a  Business Improvement District)

The Council has made a commitment to improve CCTV provision in the town centre back in March 2004, This included the monitoring of CCTV cameras. Without monitoring they are of limited value. To pay for this they decided to set up a  Business Improvement District (BID) for the town centre - under this businesses would contribute towards the cost of improvements in the BID area (such as for CCTV)
In the last Cabinet agenda Item 9 it stated that — the consultation with business about setting up a BID was complete however,  that there are no resources to progress this project further and that the future of the project needed clarifying.
The cabinet let this pass without comment which is surprising because of the importance they placed on the BIDs as a way of paying for CCTV monitoring. We need to discuss ways forwards on this vitally important community safety issue. The police and the councils own Anti Social behaviour officers can benefit greatly from the real-time data that CCTV monitoring can provide. We are already 10 years behind Stoke on the provision of CCTV.

 

 

The Borough can't afford another false dawn on CCTV

My views on the CCTV Report given to The scrutiny Committee (31st Mar '04) which Includes quote that appears in The Sentinel  (1st Apr '04) "Cllrs back plans to bill traders for CCTV)

The Conservative Group believe that the CCTV task and finish group was set up to recommend to cabinet a clear way forward on CCTV for this Borough.

Our reason for recommend the Borough develops its own facilities as opposed to paying for Stoke-on-Trent to monitor our CCTV cameras is whilst we were impressed with the professionalism of the Stoke CCTV Operation We feel that the Borough would be paying to upgrade another Authorities system and be tying itself financially to Stoke for possibly 5 to 10 years.

If the Borough Council were to develop its own control room placed in somewhere like the Knutton Depot, it would give the Borough full control to develop at its' own pace. Spending council taxpayers' money on an asset for the Borough.

The report states that revenue costs of operating a CCTV control room are the problem. It is our view that the sources of funding described in the report in particular the new and untried  BIDs or business improvements districts will be difficult to get up and running  in the limited time scale envisaged to fund the 24 hour surveillance.

The Conservative Group suggested that the council should fund the cost of 'peak' time monitoring  itself to get the scheme off the ground. Whilst  engaging in  dialogue with businesses in Newcastle Town Centre and other areas to investigate the creation of Business Improvement Districts and seek also to secure other sources of funding with the aim of raising revenues to expand Newcastle Boroughs CCTV operation and moving to 24 hour surveillance.

We believe that this borough cannot afford another false dawn on CCTV. The report states that crime is being displaced from other areas with CCTV, such as Stoke, to this Borough and this trend is set to continue and grow.

The Scrutiny Committee decided not to take onboard our suggestions so we shall be watching closely of the coming months and years to see how things develop.

 

Other CCTV articles

          

CCTV in the town centre could help fight crime in May Bank

Whilst in October last year a Community Police Officer was assigned to the May Bank area after several months without. The officer concerned is also covering the town centre as well.
A lot of car crime and yob behaviour takes place in our area when the Police are busy coping with the situation in the town centre.
I’m pressing the council to introduced monitoring of the town centre CCTV cameras so as to allow the police to co-ordinate their actions in the town centre instead of running round effectively blind.

This will should free up officers to concentrate on crime and yob behaviour in suburbs such as May Bank, Basford and The Brampton

 

Town Centre safety must be the priority

Quote given to The Sentinel (12th Jan '04) about recent controversy involving the amount of money spent on the Britain in Bloom competition  by the Borough.

While Britain in Bloom brings  prestige to the Borough. I believe it should become self financing through sponsorship as soon as possible. At a time when the Council is under severe budgetary pressures I think there are higher priorities for the council to spend 'our' money on.
Given the choice between Britain in Bloom and say a monitored CCTV  system for the town centre, the money would be better put toward CCTV. 

 

         
Send mail to Simon Tagg with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 03/15/04

Published & promoted by Simon Tagg  of Newcastle-under-Lyme Conservatives, Hawthorne House, Newcastle, Staffs.

 Simon Tagg 2006