Residents from a further four towns across the Caerphilly county borough can benefit from having ‘talking’ CCTV cameras in their town centres, which aim to provide community reassurance and prevent low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.
Following a successful pilot scheme, where three talking cameras were placed along Blackwood High Street, allowing CCTV operators to speak through a built in microphone, Public Announcement (PA) systems have now also been installed to existing cameras in Newbridge and Bargoed town centres.
Similar systems are also planned for Caerphilly (2 cameras) and Risca town centres in the near future.
The talking cameras provide an additional boost to the existing CCTV network that has been operating successfully across the county borough for a number of years.
Cllr Lyn Ackerman, cabinet member for the environment said, “We have been pleased with how the pilot talking camera scheme in Blackwood town centre has been received by local residents and businesses, and following on from this success we were keen for other local towns throughout the borough to benefit from the scheme also.
The talking cameras allow our CCTV operators to intervene and help prevent low level crime and anti-social behaviour, by letting offenders know that their behaviour has been spotted, is being recorded and depending on the circumstances that the police may be called.
In many cases, this has proven to be enough to stop the offending behaviour altogether, which in turn helps us in our quest for even tidier and safer streets.”
The Public Announcement (PA) system in Blackwood town centre has been used successfully on a number of occasions, where CCTV operators have advised people on issues such as not to urinate in public, as well as advising them against smoking in a non smoking area of Blackwood bus station and advising males who were being aggressive to stop and to inform them that they were being monitored on CCTV.
The systems, along with all CCTV equipment are dedicated solely for law enforcement and public safety and at no time is the equipment used for any other purpose.
The initiative is part of the government’s ‘Respect’ agenda and aims to add a further dimension to CCTV monitoring and enforcement across the country.
