20.12.16
Cornwall councils launch collaborative CCTV project
Eight West Cornwall town councils are working together with the region’s rescue and police services to launch a ‘groundbreaking’ CCTV project to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.
The brainchild of Hayle Town Council, the Town Council CCTV project will see a total of 80 cameras installed in eight towns: Camborne, Hayle, Helston, Penzance, Redruth, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth.
The council tax-funded project will be recorded and monitored by dedicated and specially trained staff from the Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service (CFRCS) at their Critical Control Centre. A link will also be provided to the Emergency Management Centre in Truro so the images can be accessed in emergency situations.
Cllr Rowenna Brock, Falmouth Town councillor and chair of the stakeholders group set up to manage the project, said: “Many people have told us that the use of CCTV makes them feel safer in their communities.
“I am delighted we have been able to achieve this by working with the police and the fire and rescue service and I am looking forward to building on the strong partnership which has been developed.”
Superintendent Sara Crane, Devon and Cornwall police commander for West Cornwall, said that the positive action of the councils to develop the use of CCTV in their local communities would help the police deal more quickly with anti-social behaviour.
The success of the Town Council CCTV project was also recognised by the Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez on her recent visit to the county.
“We have already seen positive results from the cameras which have already been installed in a number of towns,” added Superintendent Crane.
The stakeholders group comprises both members and clerks from the eight town councils, along with representatives from the CFRCS and Devon and Cornwall police. It will be chaired by a member from a different council next year in a model which the CFRCS area manager Kevin Thomas called an “excellent example of localism and devolution”.
Last month the surveillance camera commissioner Tony Porter strongly encouraged collaboration between local authorities to maximise the benefit of CCTV after he revealed in his 2015-16 annual report that councils were increasingly switching their cameras off due to tightening local budgets.
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