CCTV cracks down on crime and flytipping

CCTV cameras are helping to crackdown on crime and flytipping in Tameside and keep communities safe.

More than 162 arrests have been made so far this year thanks to information provided by Tameside Council’s CCTV team – this is over three times as many as over the whole of last year.

And new mobile CCTV cameras, introduced earlier this year in flytipping hotpot areas, have already helped to identify suspected offenders in six cases.

Tameside Council’s CCTV network has over 300 cameras monitoring town centres, parks, public spaces and council buildings.  There are an additional three mobile cameras that are used to target problem spots that may have ongoing issues with flytipping and/or anti-social behaviour.

The CCTV Control Room and the Community Safety Team work in close liaison to pass intelligence and evidence to police that would otherwise be lost. This includes information on drug activity, off-road bike locations, and individuals involved in serious organised crime.

A recent example includes the CCTV cameras in Victoria Park, Denton, helping to identify the suspects behind an arson attack in the park last month.

The team also help to locate people missing from home and/or people where there are welfare concerns, with 53 vulnerable people found by CCTV so far this year.

Tameside Council Executive Member for Towns, Transport and Connectivity Cllr Stephen Homer, who is over community safety, said: “It’s fantastic to see our CCTV operations continuing to go from strength to strength and having a huge impact in keeping Tameside safe. Much of this is down to really effective partnership working as well as the hard work and vigilance on the CCTV team in monitoring the network – they are very skilled and almost have sixth sense for spotting when something is amiss.

“The figures are just a small snapshot of the daily work our CCTV control room team assist with, but they really help to showcase the significant impact they’re having working in close partnership with the police.”

Executive Member for Environmental Services and Neighbourhoods Cllr Laura Boye, who is responsible for waste enforcement, said: “It’s particularly pleasing to see that the mobile CCTV cameras are having a positive impact on tackling flytipping – not only are they helping us to identify  and take action against suspected offenders, we believe they can also act a deterrent to flytipping in the first place.

“We’re keeping one step ahead of the flytippers and continue to move the cameras around the borough to make the most of their mobility and ability to really target problem areas.

“Our waste enforcement team is very proactive – we issued more fixed penalty notices for flytipping than anywhere else in the north west last year - and the mobile cameras and close work with the CCTV team can only enhance this successful work.”