The Cheltenham CCTV Scheme 1. History The Cheltenham Borough Council CCTV Scheme commenced in 1994 when 5 cameras were installed at key locations within the town centre, the scheme has since grown considerably to a current level of 60. All of the cameras are owned and maintained by the Cheltenham Borough Council and are operated by Police Support Staff who are based within the CCTV Control Room at the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Divisional Police HQ in Lansdown Road Within this control room there is the ability to access other CCTV Schemes within the town centre, these include Beechwood Arcade, Regent Arcade and the new Brewery Site The Tewkesbury Town CCTV Scheme comprising 5 cameras is also monitored form this room. 2. Camera locations A map identifying current CCTV Cameras is provided at the end of this document. The map is based on cameras at 2005 and does not include the new cameras at Welch Road 3. Maintenance Contract In order to maintain the efficiency of cameras a maintenance contract exists and is currently provided by Delaware. Delaware are an experienced security company that provide a wide range of technical solutions in the security market. Their contract with the Borough Council commenced in July 2006 and is for a three year period at a total cost of £53k The Contract is managed by the Community Safety Manager, Trevor Gladding, but on a daily basis by members of the Community Safety Team who ensure that faults reported by the police are rectified at the earliest opportunity 4. New Cameras New CCTV cameras are planned as part of the SACs project at Welch Road Playing Fields, four cameras have been installed and two further cameras are planned to be installed in the near future. The cameras have been funded by, the CDRP who funded the infrastructure and one camera and the remainder by S. 106 contributions from the sale of the allotments at Welch Road. 5. Review of CCTV Scheme In order to improve the effectiveness of the current CCTV scheme an independent review will shortly be commissioned. The review will include
current CCTV Camera locations, operating costs, technical costs, layout and use of the CCTV Control Room. At the conclusion of the review a CCTV Strategy will be developed to ensure the future effectiveness of the scheme 6. Proactive use of CCTV Recent changes within the Police and Community Safety team have resulted in changes to the performance management of the CCTV Scheme. These changes will make the scheme more effective by adopting an intelligence led and proactive approach to their use and provide greater value for money from the Borough Councils perspective As part of a process to improve the effectiveness of the CCTV Scheme a Training Day was held in December 2006 that was jointly managed between the Police, Sgt Bob Keeble and the Community Safety Officer, Richard Bradley. The day was attended by all CCTV operators and Jane Robbins from CBC who administers the maintenance contract. Throughout the day various inputs were delivered including presentations on : • The National Intelligence Model a process that targets crime through an intelligence led approach. This process will now be adopted within the CCTV Room enabling a more focused and intelligence based approach to use of the cameras • Legislation associated with legal use of CCTV cameras and surveillance • The proposed independent review of the CCTV Scheme that will examine current systems and processes and identify areas for improvement and, • How the CCTV maintenance engineers and contract works in fault rectification A further training day will be held in May 2007 7. Successes As a result of the new approach identified above there has been a considerable improvement in performance and use of the CCTV Scheme Tuesday 19 December 2006 CCTV used proactively in support of Operation Kracker a high profile police operation targeting criminals in the town centre prior to Christmas. The cameras and operators were closely involved with the arrests of 7 people for crimes including, Theft, Breach of Bail, and Wanted on Warrant. A further 7 individuals were detained on suspicion on Shoplifting. 30 January 2007 – CCTV used to protect and record an officer dealing with a potentially violent shoplifter and to guide other officers as back up to support him.
Later that day CCTV was used to locate a male suspect who was eventually identified and arrested for threats to kill 5 February 2007 – CCTV used in the arrest of a male suspect who had been shoplifting in the town centre, when this person was ‘stop searched’ stolen property was found hidden on his person, all of this was recorded and will now be used for evidential purposes Three other male persons were also arrested that day, one for theft and two who were wanted by the police for voyeurism offences
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