Five re-deployable camera units are now being used across North Cumbria by Carlisle City Council and Eden District Council, who are working closely with Cumbria Constabulary on a local crime and disorder reduction partnership programme aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour and localised crime.
The Leerose order to supply the cameras follows earlier projects to upgrade Carlisle City Centre’s CCTV system and control room. This comprised a conversion from analogue to digital, with a graphic front-end interface showing all fixed cameras as on-screen icons and enabling the instant retrieval of historic events for each camera with time and date reference.
Overtly installed on street lighting columns, the re-deployable camera units are regularly moved around Carlisle and Eden’s crime hotspots by the City Council, in response to police statistics and intelligence on high risk areas, as well as problems identified by the local community.
Significant impact
Their presence has already had a significant impact on crime reduction, and led to a number of successful prosecutions where camera image evidence was used.
The re-deployable units have two separate aerial connections.
The first aerial sends a signal back to the City Council’s own CCTV control room.
Operators can dial-in to access images from the camera sites and can then contact either Cumbria Constabulary’s Police HQ, Penrith, or local police in Carlisle, to pass on up to date information from the sites.
The second WiFi signal enables local police to view camera images on their laptops once they are in the vicinity of the cameras, enabling an immediate impression of events and a prompt response to incidents they witness.
New flexibility
Carlisle City Council’s CCTV manager, Peter Vincent, said: “These re-deployable cameras have added to the CCTV capacity within North Cumbria and have allowed us a flexibility we never had before.
“Their mobility has allowed us to respond to community concerns and they have been used in conjunction with other interventions to tackle serious cases of anti-social behaviour.
“This has meant the cameras have been targeted by local troublemakers, but whilst some damage has been caused to them, they have continued to record evidence, which has allowed the City Council to work in conjunction with the local policing teams to identify these individuals.
“The Leerose cameras enable the City Council and the police to rapidly respond to problems across different parts of the region, and provide highly visible reassurance to local communities that crime and disorder reduction is a high priority and that preventative measures are being implemented.”