CCTV cameras have picked up a series of crime-related incidents since they were installed in Keswick town centre late last year, police have revealed.
Details emerged this week of how officers responded after being alerted by images from the two high-tech cameras that were put up either side of Main Street outside the Fat Face and John Young’s stores.
In the early hours of the morning on new year’s eve, CCTV recorded two hooded men leaving a white van and acting suspiciously around shop premises. The vehicle details and stills were passed onto officers for intelligence.
In other incidents during the same week, the cameras assisted local officers in the search for two children missing from home who were subsequently found and they also recorded a group of young people who were repeatedly kicking a ball against shop windows in Market Square. The CCTV cameras created still pictures that were subsequently passed onto local officers.
Keswick’s CCTV cameras are part of a roll-out of the crime-busting equipment in Cumbria’s rural communities, phase two of which involves a total of 26 going up in 11 towns, including Ambleside and Cockermouth (one each) and Wigton (three). Only 10 are already active, including Keswick’s pair. This follows the 2015 phase one roll-out of 56 CCTV cameras in seven towns, plus 15 in Carlisle.
Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) Peter McCall says he is continuing to work with district, town and county councils to extend the existing CCTV network throughout Cumbria, including rural communities like Keswick where local councillors had played a central role in installing the cameras after previous obsolete ones had been removed.
Mr McCall added that although there had been some delays due to the Covid pandemic, phase two had continued.
He said: “The CCTV cameras are a great additional resource in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour and helps to focus and target our officers on criminals and their activity. They have assisted in locating vulnerable missing people, as well as identifying vehicles and individuals suspected to be involved in committing crime.
“People have to feel safe in the area they live and the installation of CCTV cameras provides reassurance to local people, that the police are monitoring anti-social behavior and its consequences. The cameras, along with the recruitment of additional officers to work in local neighbourhoods, forms part of our drive to develop community policing throughout the county to keep people in Cumbria safe.”
Peter Wood is director of Telemachus, the company supplying the CCTV cameras. He said: “We are delighted to be working with the PCC and Cumbria Constabulary on this CCTV expansion.
“The existing system has been in successful operation since 2015 and has been an invaluable tool in assisting Cumbria Constabulary deal with a large number of incidents, including alcohol consumption, antisocial behaviour, assault, burglary, drugs, missing persons, public order and robbery. We believe the additional re-deployable cameras will increase public safety, prevent crime, aid tourism and provide additional peace of mind within the extra local communities.”
