SOMERSET NEWS: The CCTV numbers for 2015

A TOTAL of 180 arrests were made in Yeovil and South Somerset during 2015 as a result of “live” incidents followed by a CCTV control room.

The CCTV team in Sedgemoor dealt with nearly 4,000 incidents in 2015 which resulted in 1,060 people being arrested across the county.

These figures – released today (Monday, January 4, 2016) by Sedgemoor District Council – are for live incidents monitored and recorded by the CCTV operators.

These figures do not include incidents or arrest figures for crimes that were dealt with through post incident investigations by the police where CCTV footage was used therefore, arrest figures will be higher than the 1,060 recorded by CCTV.

Sedgemoor District Council’s CCTV department monitors 145 CCTV cameras across Sedgemoor and the two neighbouring authorities of Taunton Deane and South Somerset. In addition to this we also have a number of dedicated Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

Broken down into Local Authority areas Sedgemoor had 1,522 incidents resulting in 427 arrests, Taunton Deane had 1,678 incidents resulting in 453 arrests with South Somerset having 650 incidents resulting in 180 arrests.

The CCTV Operators work in the Control Room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In 2015 the team took 2,154 out-of-hours emergency calls from the public.

A spokesperson for Sedgemoor District Council’s CCTV team said: “2015 has been a challenging year as the department has been busy throughout but it has also been a time for celebration as the team we celebrated its 21st birthday.

“Since the department opened in 1994 it has helped thousands of people who have been victims of crime, probably without them even knowing it.

“We have also helped police to recover stolen vehicles, find missing children and vulnerable adults who may be considering suicide. We also detect violent offenders and people carrying weapons or firearms.

“We help to locate those offenders who commit theft and burglary, and offenders who have evaded capture and are sought by the police. The CCTV team continue to work closely with Avon and Somerset Police, those in the retail and pub trade, through the radio link scheme, and our Local Authority partners to get the best results and make the areas we monitor as safe as possible.”

The spokesperson added: “Overall it is very difficult to quantify the success of a department by statistics, but the team at Sedgemoor are highly dedicated and provide vast amounts of evidence and intelligence to the authorities to aid them in the detection and prosecution of offenders.

“However, CCTV is not always about crime, and quite often we help in other ways that would not always be immediately obvious for example finding a lost/misplaced car, spotting traffic problems and updating on collisions, alerting authorities to a dangerous building that has been damaged in extreme weather or spotting early signs of flooding to name but a few.”

Tags:
News.