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24-7 Shropshire CCTV scheme plan
Monday 31st May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
A major new CCTV scheme is planned across Shropshire so that police and council employees can maintain a 24-hour watch on residents.
The county’s surveillance operation will increase dramatically with major new schemes being introduced to Whitchurch and Ludlow.
A new state-of-the-art headquarters will be launched in Shrewsbury which cameras across the county will be linked to – giving officers the ability to monitor people from a central location.
The scheme will involve the use of hundreds of cameras and thousands of man hours. Officials hope it will lead to a huge cut in crime.
CCTV in Shropshire is presently monitored on an ad-hoc basis, which means some cameras can go unmonitored for long periods of time. However, that system is to be scrapped in favour of a 24-7 set-up.
The move, which coincides with government plans to regulate civil liberty measures, will see police, councils and the Highways Agency monitoring 369 cameras, including 13 cameras on the M54.
Today Shropshire Council, which already runs a CCTV scheme covering Shrewsbury and Telford, said the move would help cut crime. But some fear the decision is another step towards a surveillance state.
Shropshire Council environmental enforcement officer, Dave Roberts, said Whitchurch and Ludlow would be the first towns to join the scheme.
He said: “It will be perfect for the people of Ludlow and Whitchurch and for shop traders and businesses. Ludlow’s CCTV monitoring operation is currently based in the police station and they can’t always watch it. We would like to take this system throughout Shropshire.
“We would also like to increase our partnership with Telford. We only look at Oakengates, Wellington and Dawley at the moment. That is working really well and we are very happy with the way it is going but it would be great to expand it.”
Whitchurch town clerk David Martin added: “It will allow us to have the cameras monitored on a full-time basis and provide a better service to the people of Whitchurch.”
But the news has drawn criticism from some quarters. Dr Charles West, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Shrewsbury in the election, said: “We think the surveillance state has gone too far. The impact of CCTV and number plate recognition means that the civilian can be tracked across the county in a very sophisticated manner.”
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good like most law abiding folk i welcome this, that silly lib dem man and the new proposals that people like david davis championed are ludicrous, lets have more survellence not less, its keeping me safe
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hundreds of man hours?
Oh yes – and paid for by who?
Let’s have a few tea parties as in “Taxed Enough Already”
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They’ll also be using it to spy on every little thing you do, and hoping that they can use the evidence to levy fines on you for breaking various bylaws.
The amazing thing is that the public has no say whatsoever in this, and of course it is the public that will foot the bill.
It’ll be interesting to see if there is indeed ‘a huge cut in crime’ (crime prevention being how they will try and sell it to the public…) and whether West Mercia Police will use this as an excuse to cut officers on the beat even further.
And the funny thing is, the new Government wanted to cut down on all this typr of thing! Funny old world.
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Who will be watching the council employees?
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good.
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The main problem with CCTV is that it does not cut crime, it merely offers another resource to police to clear up crime, (assuming that the cameras are working, have clear definition and are pointing in the right direction, that the crime is not being committed by someone in a mask and whose car has cloned number plates, that the operators aren’t asleep and that they’re not more interested in directing them to see what’s going on in that woman across the street’s bedroom).
When police really were police, they were judged on PREVENTION of crime. Now, they have become lazy – relying more on cameras to attempt to solve crime but by then, it’s too late, another victim has been already created. How many times have people called the police only for them to turn up too late, after the crime has been committed?
No, this system won’t make me feel safer and you can be sure that it will become a revenue-raising device when the council get their mitts on it.
“Burglary at No.11, P.C. Jones, can you attend?” “Sorry Sarge, I’m busy watching a parked car on CCTV. The meter’s about to expire and then I can issue a ticket. There it goes, Bingo!, another crime solved.”
If the council and police MUST have this system installed, then let’s have an agreement with the public that from the day it’s turned on, the police will be paid according to how little crime is actually committed rather than the present system of bonuses and back-slapping all round when they manage to clear up crime that they failed to prevent in the first place.
Otherwise, use the money to get them out on the beat and to lock persistent offenders up for decent spells.
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I trust this will now not happen – given that the government have said that cctv will be reduced. I also wonder if my council tax will go down as the people who have been employed to snoop on me will now not have a job
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fine by me, should be a good thing for safety
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People are being fed nonsense by the Lib Dems. If cameras are operated under the industry standards by licensed staff they have nothing to fear. They are to prevent, detect crime and provide safety. Yes much viewing is after something has taken place, but one policeman in a town cannot see as much as 50 cameras operated by a professional. I have done both jobs so I know! In 30 years as a Policeman, I came across a handful of crimes in progress. As a cctv operator I spotted dozens. We cleared up murders, robberies and a host of other offences using recorded images. Some people are just believing what the liberal camp are saying based on poor and inaccurate statistics and mis-information.
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How come this present government are proud of recently chucking out identity cards despite a load of money already having been spent towards that concept but now are going to introduce far more intrusive CCTV?
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Cctv is only a tool to assist in the detection and prevention of crime.In todays society it is a nessary tool.I suspect that the increase in the amount of cameras to be monitored is to justify their buget.
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nothing to hide nothing to fear
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the lib dems are nuts, cctv save lives and solves crimes, more cctv in shropshire the better i reckon
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CCTV operators in any environment are subject to strict guidelines and are licensed by the SIA.
All CCTV operators have to take an examination and understand all aspects of law and human rights, they do not ‘spy’ on people regardless, an innocent person going about their normal day need not worry, CCTV is used to prevent crime, can be used for gathering evidence as a crime is being committed, look for missing persons (including children and vulnerable people)and monitoring traffic flow for travel news on radio and tv.
CCTV is with us to protect and reassure the innocent and assist in the prevention, detection and prosecution of those who are not.
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My point is that the ID card system is the most usful to intercept illegal immigrants and all the money that has been spent towards bringing us into line with other Europeans is now wasted. CCTV is very expensive and will do nothing to address the problem of people living here illegally.
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