CCTV going mobile

1:00pm Saturday 15th March 2008

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BIG brother is going mobile in Calne as the town council plan to buy removable CCTV units to keep an eye on trouble hot spots.

Calne Town Council, who recently revamped the towns old CCTV system, plan to buy the mobile CCTV unit to reduce anti social behaviour in the town.

Deputy town clerk Daryl Saville Brown, who pioneered the new CCTV system in Calne, said the mobile unit would be a great reassurance to residents who live in trouble hot spots.

She said: "We aim to get these deployable cameras which can be moved around Calne when needed.

"These would benefit the town and could be put in areas of trouble which would be a great help to the police.

"Residents of Harris Court would benefit from this scheme at the moment but often trouble moves across Calne and this would be a cost effective scheme."

Mrs Saville Brown plans to apply for funding for the deployable camera, which could be placed in a window or lamppost.

Landlord of The Kings Arms Richard Snell said: "I think this is a fantastic idea for Calne.

"If you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. This is not about watching people going about their daily business it is an effort to stop anti social behaviour in Calne."

CCTV cameras were first rolled out in Calne six years ago and there are now eight in the town centre.

But since police initiatives to combat anti social behaviour, such as a dispersal order in the town centre, teenagers have moved into other areas of Calne.

Trouble hot spots include Castlefields, Harris Court and the skate park.

Sgt Mark Rees, of Calne Police, said mobile CCTV would bring help police more prosecutions.

He said: "These cameras are an excellent idea. The fact that they are mobile means we can put them in places where we are experiencing higher levels of crime.

"If we had these cameras for the recent bin fires in Phelps Parade we would have been able to identify the offenders involved and managed the issue effectively."

The CCTV revamp will upgrade the monitoring system to flat screens and will link traders through a council launched radio scheme.