The Isle of Wight Council have made a partial u-turn on cuts to the CCTV control room, which saw all 5 staff members axed last month.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the Council decided to stop monitoring of the Island’s CCTV cameras on 17th May as part of cuts to the PFI contract with Island Roads – news which was exclusively revealed back in April.
The news didn’t sit well with Islanders and sources revealed at the time that Police were unhappy with the situation. Hampshire Constabulary previously said they could not comment on specifics regarding the location and funding of CCTV as it is a matter for the local authority, but that they were continuing to hold discussions with Isle of Wight Council about the provision.
Now, it has been announced that £100,000 will be re-allocated to the service to meet the Police’s requirements.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has this week said:
“We continue to liaise with the police and have reached an agreement on a protocol that meets their requirements. Police will continue to be supported in reviewing CCTV footage, viewing specific cameras or using the CCTV control room for the purposes of specific operations.
“The council will continue to fund this service at an approximate cost of £100,000.”
The partial reinstatement will be reviewed in 6 months’ time.
What is there to review it’s a vital service that protects the public and helps with vital evidence for a prosecution.
In other words they’ve be told not to be silly
Thank goodness sense has prevailed and yes I agree… this is a vital service and should never have been at risk of closure.
You would think that the numpies would have thought to get the opinion of the police before chopping the CCTV operators. CCTV is not for watching Aunt Sally taking her dog for a walk down the high street….
Instead of axeing jobs why not train them to go on the streets as yoi u moan your short !!???
CCTV was put in due to a rise in crime, it obviously worked because now they think they don’t need them, guess what will happen when they are not there, it’s not too difficult to work out even for the council !
It is stupid to stop cctv in the first place in fact I think we could do with more apart from bin collection what else do we get