CCTV in wick

[katarina]

I see Thurso is getting its tenth camera. What is the matter with Wick? Pssibly that's why the Wick crime rate is growing, while in Thurso it's falling! Come on, get a grip Wick councilors!

[gravedigga]

Here Here Katarina!!

In the other thread philupmaboug suggested
Would it be possible to lobby our local councilors to use the money from the proposed sale of the Harmsworth park to pay for CCTV in the town? This would be of good use to all of the comunity and we would see where the money was going....for a change.
That is if the sale goes ahead or is it just another rumour?
To be honest if the Harmsworth Park was turned in to a supermarket or soemthing it wouldn't really bother me one way or the other but why should we have to sell part of the town to get it. What did Thurso have to sell eh?? . . . . . . . . nothing. The council should get their hands in their pockets and do something to tackle the problem of crime, not only the council but surely CASE could chuck some money at it or get some kind of lottery funding??

[Bill Fernie]

Can I correct something that appears to be on the go at the moment. There is no proposed sale of the Harmsworth Park. Rumours do not make proposals. From time to time representatives from companies and businesses will arrive in the county to check out the area or make enquiries about possibilities. They may not be taken further but of course this can and does lead to speculation that something might be going to happen on a particular site. Big companies are continually considering expansion prospects and this will be subject to many factors eg availabliltiy of investment capital and current forecasts for profitability at any given site, logistics of their supply chain and so on.

There may be some optimism taken from the fact that there does appear to be a growing interest currently in Wick and no doubt large chains will perhaps pick up indications that might flag up certain areas for at least consideration for new developments. Against that however it must be remembered that they will also be considering other sites for investment.

But as yet all of this is merely speculation based on rumour as no proposals are on the table and may never be.

On the CCTV for Thurso there are certain areas now being upgraded in Highland as the equipment is due for renwal etc. Thurso is part of that. Wick and other places are next in line to be added to the programme once finance is identified and becomes available. Unfortunately there is no finance lying around that can be allocated to this immediately.

Wick High School now has CCTV.

CCTV is only one small part of the answer and it should be remembered that ordinary folk are still the best eyes and ears to prevent crime by repeorting anything suspicious to the police no matter how small or even if you are unsure. Nothing wrong in reporting something that turns out to be nothing at all. But reporting anything suspicious allows the police to act sooner and perhaps prevent or even apprehend. We all need to be responsible and not leave it to someone else.

Let's not forget we still ive in one of the lowest crime areas in the UK.

[Rheghead]

Bill, you're such a 'spoil sport' when it comes to wild fanciful rumours! :)

[katarina]

Here Here Katarina!!


To be honest if the Harmsworth Park was turned in to a supermarket or soemthing it wouldn't really bother me one way or the other but why should we have to sell part of the town to get it. What did Thurso have to sell eh?? . . . . . . . . nothing. The council should get their hands in their pockets and do something to tackle the problem of crime, not only the council but surely CASE could chuck some money at it or get some kind of lottery funding??

Well, case did chuck money at Thurso to fund part of the cctv cameras there -

i believe these figures to be correct
£60,000 from the Scottish executive, £26,500 from CASE, £26,500 from the Highland council.
So why all that money to install ten cameras in Thurso and none in Wick? Can anyone tell me that? Why not five each if that's all the money that is available?
And I also agree that wwe shouldn't have to sell something to fund it. A parent should never show favouritism....

[katarina]

.

On the CCTV for Thurso there are certain areas now being upgraded in Highland as the equipment is due for renwal etc. Thurso is part of that. Wick and other places are next in line to be added to the programme once finance is identified and becomes available. Unfortunately there is no finance lying around that can be allocated to this immediately.

That did not answer my question. Why Thurso first? Why not share them equally?


CCTV is only one small part of the answer and it should be remembered that ordinary folk are still the best eyes and ears to prevent crime by repeorting anything suspicious to the police no matter how small or even if you are unsure. Let's not forget we still ive in one of the lowest crime areas in the UK.[/quote][b]


What good is that without proof? I know cameras are only part of the anser, but at least the camera never lies!

[jay]

I may be wrong here but didn't some Thurso people get together to form the CCTV company and raised some of the funding themselves so that matched funding could then be obtained from such organisations as CASE etc?

[Bill Fernie]

The stark answer as I understand it (not involved then) is that when it was first mooted several years ago Wick did not want CCTV and the funding passed on to other places.

CCTV cannot be done cheaply as the courts will not accept low grade pictures as evidence. It is not just a question of Wick or Thurso. Remember this is not a Caithness question it is a Highland question. The budgets are Highland wide. The Caithness councillors do not themselves decide on where to place CCTV. 80 councillors across Highland take these decisions. Every area would like one thing or another including CCTV and assessing he relative needs of one place against another is what it is all about.

Councillors are juggling not just CCTV but many other pressing needs when it comes to resources. The bulk of the available money comes in the form of the block grant from the Scottish Executive which in turn is from the UK government partly based on the Barnet Formula - over which there has been much debate in recent years. The much smaller part of local government finance comes from council tax although many people think it is that source that funds all local services. Local authorities are subject to many legeal obligations by the Scottish Parliament via the Scottish Executive and therefor cannot avoid or move spending in many categories but must deliver certain services as instructed. Within that there might be some leeway as to how the service is delivered but not to transferring money under budget headings - say to stop running a care home and have more CCTV if that were even possible.

Of course councils do lobby intensely the Scottish Executive to obtain funding for many things that local people would like to have done and CCTV is part of that. The Scottish Executive and politicians at the Scottish Parlaiment are often aware of these issues being pressed by local councillors or residents and look to the crime statistics and the general affect on people's lives of crime in particular areas on the quality of life. Undoubtedly CCTV is having an affect on crime in many areas and there has ben a spread of its use al over the country. I understand the UK has more cameras in operation than almost any other European country. CCTV is already in most High streets via shops and banks and they see more than most people imagine.

Stornoway - a similar town to Wick has CCTV and it has been very effective in reducing town centre problems and in gaining convictions. It is state of the art technology allowing the police to zoom in very close to any incient in certain streets and therfor to intervene maximising the manpower available to them at any given time. CCTV can also save much police time wasted by people who try to plead innoocent when giving statements but when confronted by the CCTV evidence will often agree to their guilt allowing police to move on to other work.

I hope that is a fuller answer to the question but the problem of finance is still there and is being seriously addressed. The difficulties of finance and budgets wil always be there as in the long running saga of the Wick All Weather Pitch that looks to have finally been resolved after almost ten years of running. Another recent budget crisis was for the Women's Aid centre which was to havebeen finaced from money allocated to councils from the Scottish Executive under the Supporting People programme. A recent decision to cut £2million from Highland under a new formula put the project at risk despite the fact that the building was up. After much work by council officials and meeting with the group and councillors a solution has been found to allow the centre to open.

I give these as recent examples of the problems of juggling many budgets and projects all clamouring for funding. CCTV is on the agenda and will come to Wick as many other places. I would just ask the question - Will people be any happier in a world where they are under surveillance wherever they go. As I said previously we live in one of the safest counties in the UK and I say that despite my own recent house break in. Perception of crime has been made in my view a bit over the top due to many things including the many crime programmes on TV heightening the awareness but also placing a little more fear into everyone.

I am still in favour of CCTV for Wick but will remain on guard that we all depend on it too much.

And the camera does lie all the time. Take a look at incidents on a football pitch that have been photographed and videoed from every angle. A decision based on the referees view is often shown to be wrong from cameras at other angles. Most films are full of examples of how pictures can be doctored and as evidence pictures are often called into question by defence lawyers nowadays.

thanks to everyone for their comments on this topic . It has been very useful to hear directly what folk think about the subject of CCTV.

[katarina]

[quote="Bill Fernie"]The stark answer as I understand it (not involved then) is that when it was first mooted several years ago Wick did not want CCTV and the funding passed on to other places.


Who in Wick didn't want it? Not the general public I bet.
I do realise there are problems with funding but isn't it the same all over? I know crime is relatively low here, and we want to keep it that way. Crime is like a cancer, if you don't cut it out early, it grows, all the time becoming more difficult to control. We can't be complacent just because we have a low crime rate. As you say cctv has been very successful in other towns. I hope you continue to fight for it.