CCTV cameras across the Isle of Wight will cease to be actively monitored from Friday, the Isle of Wight Council have confirmed.
Staff at the control room in Newport currently watch a bank of cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shockingly, those staff are being axed from 17th May in a bid to cut costs.
Although the 100 cameras will still record what is happening on our streets, there will be no one watching live and no one to take control and zoom in as incidents unfold. It is possible that some cameras will miss incidents altogether as they pan around.
At present, 5 CCTV control room operators are able to pick up on crime and other situations before alerting the relevant emergency services. They can follow situations from camera to camera and this can provide valuable evidence for prosecutions – as was the case when a drink driver crashed into the River Medina in February 2017.
It is unclear how the disbanding of the CCTV operator team will impact on the Council’s obligations under Home Office rules on things such as Subject Access Requests from members of the public. Concerns have also been raised about the impact on Shop Watch and Pub Watch schemes.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has told Island Echo:
“The active CCTV monitoring arrangements will cease on 17th May 2019. 100 CCTV Cameras will continue to operate in the same locations and the CCTV footage will still be available to the Police on request for evidence purposes.
“Discussions are on-going with Police to agree a revised protocol”.
Article continues below this advertisement
The scrapping of CCTV monitoring is part of the Isle of Wight Council’s agreed initial savings with Island Roads following a renegotiation of the highways PFI contract, as reported by Island Echo last month. The arrangement, which started on 1st April, is a £600,000-a-year cost reduction over the next 18 years of the agreement, or £11.4 million in total when index-linked.
The council, supported by Jasmine Consulting, is continuing to work with Island Roads to identify further savings that can be implemented from April 2020 – thought to be related to the Core Investment Period. When completed, the total savings over the lifetime of the contract could total around £40million.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary has told Island Echo:
“CCTV coverage, whether it is provided by a private individual or local authority, is useful for investigative purposes. However we cannot comment on specifics regarding the location, funding, etc, as this is a matter for the relevant provider or local authority. We are continuing to hold discussions with Isle of Wight Council about their provision”.
Looking for private CCTV and security solutions? Lifeline Alarms & Security are based on the Isle of Wight and are ready to help you protect your home or business…
What a country we have become.
The council spends 20% of our council tax every month on council employees pensions. This is where
the savings are to be made.
They need to cut costs somewhere to pay for all the housing scroungers!!
No to mention backhanders in other departments…………!!!!!!
I suppose the clerks have imposed these cuts so they can keep spending thousands of £ on experts coming in and telling them what they should know.
Top post!
Madness
Great ! The cameras will be in a fixed position so will invariably miss any important action. If it is caught, it will be by pure chance. Old Bill will now have to spend hours trawling through CCTV looking for clues… Poor sods, like they don’t have enough to do already…
Stop CCTV control room but keep spending money on the floating bridge makes perfect sense.
Meanwhile the dictators of Westminster continue to spend our money on themselves. Instead of spending on what we need it to be spent on. They spend 4 Billion Pounds on renovating the Palace of Westminster. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45811246
Err add to that the (now estimated) £64 billion for HS2!!! Concorde didn’t cost that much and it was actually useful !
https://chng.it/5wK2x5Dq Sign the Petition
OMG so short sighted and dangerous cant believe this
A major deterrent removed from the streets – how mucked up is that – it has helped in so many crime preventions and detections -exasperated
And they say Austerity is over! Makes me sick
It makes me sick too and very angry. There is a new political party that may interest you. The Brexit party.
Here is the isle of wight face book page if you’re interested. https://www.facebook.com/groups/353542198632110/
Consultants. Money down the drain. Shouldn’t the clerks in council know what they’re doing ??.
Well done island echo
Why would you want to tell whoever uses this site
Crime rate will most likely sore now
get rid of 5 clerks from the council to pay for this which is of more use. our council tax goes up and we’ now get even less.
Our biggest threat to property and general well being is from the Isle of Wight Council itself. Simply viewing and recording the actions and behaviors of the Isle of Wight Council shows this to be a fact.
https://www.change.org/p/isle-of-wight-council-cabinet-reverse-the-decision-to-close-the-isle-of-wight-cctv-centre?recruiter=312151237&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=1d2aff20-0c8c-11e5-8808-ef0d49e3e0c4&share_bandit_exp=initial-15062214-en-US&share_bandit_var=v3&utm_content=fht-15062214-en-us%3Av5
This is a dangerous move by the IOW Council, this decision coupled with the reduction in the numbers of police officers brought about by Teresa May when she was Home Secretary will inevitably lead to an inability to pro actively respond to incidents, especially violent incidents. I speak with considerable experience on this subject as a former senior police officer on the Island and Crime and Disorder manager for the IOW Community Safety Partnership. To the Isle of Wight Council, believe you have taken very poor advice from your consultants, who appear to have no concept of the impact of their advice due to a lack of understanding the dynamics of active CCTV monitoring. I’m sure similar savings are equally possible from less critical operation. One last thought, I’m sure the council won’t reconsider their decision. You could alway staff the CCTV control room with suitably trained community volunteers as a last resort. Good Luck.
I’m up for that. Retired and plenty of time on my hands. Downside is I’d have to pay to park my car….
This is not an exclusive, nor first reported by you. This was on another papers site on 17th April. There has been a petition running since then to try to make the council rethink its decision.
David, we exclusively reported the news that the CCTV operators were to be axed on 17th April. This was reported on Island Echo before any other news source.
This story – which is about when exactly the cameras will cease to be monitored – is also an Island Echo exclusive.
It is a daily occurrence now that stories first reported by Island Echo swiftly appear on other websites. We are proud to bring you Isle of Wight news first, fast and for free.
Can’t help but wonder what would have happened to the lady that drove into the river at Coppins bridge if the cameras weren’t operated..
That’s her own fault! Should not have been drink driving!!!!!