The Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet member for community protection, Councillor Karen Lucioni, has said she is on a ‘personal crusade’ to see CCTV cameras across the Isle of Wight fully monitored once again.
It was back in 2019 that Island Echo exclusively revealed that cutbacks meant the CCTV camera operators at Island Roads’ Newport headquarters were being sacked. Staff at the control room watched a bank of cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but on 17th May 2019 a total of 5 people lost their jobs in a bid to cut the Highways PFI budget.
Following public outcry and concern from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, the council made a partial u-turn dedicating funding to the CCTV service to support the activities of the Police. Now, just 1 person works in the CCTV control room.
Speaking at the council’s cabinet meeting this week, Cllr Lucioni said she wants to make the Island a safer place and is working with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary to try and get the CCTV cameras fully staffed again.
She said it would help get a hold of the Island’s anti-social behaviour issues, bring trust back to the Police, and help the council look after its communities.
Under the £726million, 25-year PFI contract, Island Roads are required to install and maintain CCTV cameras.
How about stop spending money on the floating disaster and bring back the CCTV
CCTV should be a priority, business pay huge rates and taxes. So many crims getting away.
This is it boys. This is the start of being monitored everywhere you go, the start of 15 minute cities!
Something to hide?
If you don’t do anything wrong, why worry. Keeps people safe and deters criminals. Stay indoors then Islander if you are that scared.
It is coming.
May 2024 for the New Health Mandate in Geneva will be announced
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Volunteers may be the answer?
They are watching you for your safety!
Why stop there? Why not get volunteers to put out fires and teach our children?
It’s the only way. I agree, CCTV is now required on the island. Criminals needs to understand they won’t get away with breaking the law,.CCTV can track criminal activity, cars and pedestrians. Antiquated if we don’t have it. Huge fines for those breaking the law, the revenue from the fines will pay the wages of the CCTV operators and towards the cost of increasing the coverage and installing more cameras.
Starting with speed cameras and the fines really will pay for the system
I agree, but it is proven already that criminals do get away with it, look at the yob that hospitalised the traffic warden recently, no criminal justice there. Would CCTV have made a difference there? Maybe? because there would have been a public outcry. The real problem is people no longer trust the criminal system, fines, let offs, community pay back….
Many tin foil hat wearing people will say that big brother is watching.. But if you are doing nothing wrong and you have nothing to hide then why not have cctv on the corner of every road.? Vandalism, robberies and break~ins will be a thing of the past. Imagine being able to go abroad for a two week holiday and leave your house unlocked the entire time. Or park your brand new car on the street knowing that it won’t be scratched. Who will monitor the footage you ask.? Start a community watch group in every town and village using volunteers who are keen to get rid of the troublemakers.
Who will fund the cctv installation you ask.? Convicted vandals and thugs should be forced to pay for it through the courts.
I total agree if your doing nothing wrong then CCTV should be a issue BUT………the issue is replaying the recorded event normally has huge issues as the quality is normally like watching on a gameboy aswell as the suspect dressed like batman with a pair of airmax 95s on, then they possibly publish the photo asking us if we know the person… if they didnt have weak punishment it would solve a huge amount of crimes happening, normally a crime is comitted- outcome- suspended sentence and a £100 fine.
No, surveilance CCTV images are top quality. Unlike typical in store security cameras or home security cameras…
How naiive of you!
Who decides whether you are ‘doing something wrong’ or not? What are the factors that deem someone to be a suspicious character, getting police involved?
Maybe committing the crime of being black, or being with someone else’s wife, or appearing not to be well off enough to be wearing a particular jacket or bag?
Or maybe you were caught picking your nose when there seemed to be noone around, and they had a good laugh about it back at the hub.
Or they dont like a sticker youre wearing, showing your political allegiances.
There is such a thing as personal privacy , even if you do give yourself 10/10 for being a strangely conformative person.
Since never ending unchecked illegal immigration in our country, and with growing numbers of our own criminals now, UK prisons are unable to take in any but the very worst offenders.
So low level crimes will never ever again receive the type of sentence that people on here ‘expect’ will deter vandals, or shop lifting offences.
So even if caught full face HD, red handed, these crims KNOW little will happen, and a tiny fine, which they will claim as they are already on the ‘poverty line’ they can only pay 50p a week, so NO punishment.
So whilst Cameras give a ‘feel good factor’ to the old and naive, the petty crime level will remain, and rape and stabbings will happen in areas not covered by such.
What price fake peace of mind
There’ll be a name and shame of the offenders in my group.. ban from all local shops and businesses for life.
cctv systems do have poor quality, but if there was cctv in every street you could simply follow the footage of the perp to their address after their crime.
Yes and while you’re at it why not grass you’re neighbours up if they have a light bulb gone on their car ? You people are sick in the head England has become a nazi state with the police acting like the ss you should all be ashamed of yourselves !
Vandalism, break ins, robbery, assault, car crime, this would stop.
It’s not going to be grassing up neighbours for having a lightbulb out, or cctv people laughing at someone else picking their nose. It’s for crime prevention.
Nazi state? Hardly, check out your facts how they treated people before accusing the British of being anything like them. Our streets are filled with blacks, and rainbow prancing people, something the Nazi’s would have never allowed.
So don’t use such insulting terms to the British, for we, imo, are too far removed from the right now for our own good.
Absolutely well put. There must be plenty of people prepared to volunteer to support a paid ‘supervisor’ in the control room 24/7. I’d be up for that.
Won’t the smarter crooks make certain they are not operating in range of any surveillance equipment? CCTV only catches the thick crims… hang on a minute…
We have too many ‘big brothers’ watching us already. We don’t need any more.
We have 2 cctv cameras outside the bowling alley in Ryde yet drivers go the wrong way through the no entry on a daily basis as do cyclists plus we have retards using the esplanade as their personal drag strip, apparently these cameras are not monitored.
They are probably dummy cameras
Police could create an app that links cctv camera to our phones if any activity happens like a neighbourhood watch sort of thing.
I moved to the Island in 1967 and the council have always had their brains up where the sun don’t shine.
Very true.
“Island Roads are required to install and maintain CCTV cameras”
If they are contracted to provide this service, they should be doing it. They have been paid for it, so we should get a refund. Island Roads seem to do whatever they want to do, which seems to be very little. Sort them out.
So the cameras will be used to catch criminals only for the courts to slap people’s wrists with meagre fines. You don’t need to be Johnny Ball to get a negative number
Speed cameras islandwide are desperately required on Island roads.
Also so many motorists keep jumping red lights thesedays.
it is a hard job to do but those that where sat in the control room did it brilliantly bring back cctv monitoring 24/7
If you have nothing to hide or worry about why should it bother you.