Criminals beware because we are watching you. This is the message from Littleport Parish Council, which believes it is winning the war on crime and disorder with the installation of a new CCTV system.
It is not enough for the police alone to fight crime these days. Reducing the risk and fear of crime and antisocial behaviour is a task for the police and the community working together. And that's precisely what Littleport is achieving with its six CCTV cameras positioned throughout the town centre.
With a growing population of 5500 people, Littleport in Cambridgeshire, like the majority of towns and cities throughout the UK, was experiencing problems with antisocial behaviour and crimes such as drug use, drunkenness, harassment, theft and disorderly behaviour.
In Britain, most towns and cities are turning to CCTV surveillance of public areas and facilities for help. CCTV is very quickly becoming an integral part of crime control and has had more impact on the evolution of law enforcement policy than just about any technology in the past two decades.
With a grant from the Eastern Region Development Fund, Littleport Parish Council approached Oxford based security experts Chris Lewis Fire & Security earlier this year to design and install a CCTV surveillance system for their town centre.
The wireless linked system that consists of static as well as fully functional cameras with full pan, tilt and zoom capability was installed in April this year and has already proved its worth.
Although the system is not continuously monitored and cannot therefore be used to detect incidents and coordinate police responses, it has proved very effective as a deterrent of criminal and antisocial activity and in the detection or perpetrators of crimes. The images captured by the CCTV cameras show incidents taking place and have helped local police in their investigations of a number of incidents including a road traffic accident, a burglary, an assault and numerous antisocial activities.
Emma Graves, Littleport's Police Community Support Officer says, "The installation of CCTV cameras in Main Street has noticeably been a factor in reducing the number of incidents in this area. It as acted as a welcomed deterrent. If an incident does occur the system has been very useful in providing evidence for the Police to follow up. It is crucial that the images produced from the cameras are of good quality, which we have certainly found to be the case."
Justin Rhodes, IT Director at Chris Lewis Fire & Security comments, "Digital systems of this nature are a perfect fit for town centre surveillance systems. They're incredibly flexible and can be expanded upon if and when required. The advanced search and motion detection capabilities enable all incidents to be pinpointed even it it's a busy shopping centre or a high street area."
Indeed Littleport's own system has the capability of being expanded to include a total of 16 cameras. The expansion of the system would allow known trouble spots outside of the main high street to be monitored and the Parish Council are already considering installing cameras at the leisure centre and skate park, as well as other locations in the town centre.
Paul Cox Chairman of Littleport Parish Council comments, "I would recommend CCTV surveillance undoubtedly to other town and parish councils, as it has improved lawlessness in Littleport significantly and helped our police investigate a number of crimes since it has been installed."
It is local traders in the town centre who are feeling the impact of the new surveillance system the most. Whilst they feel that the cameras are a crime preventative measure, the system also offers them the reassurance that should an incident take place, the culprit will be identified and the recorded footage assist in any prosecution.
Henry Mann, Chairman of the Trader's Association comments, "The business group are certainly very grateful that the Parish Council has implemented the system. It's something we've been wanting for some time and the solution is certainly as good an option as we hoped for. It's very beneficial to traders who now have the peace of mind that should an incident take place, we've got the footage to rely on. I'd certainly recommend it to other towns looking to improve their security and surveillance."