Tower Hamlets Council’s CCTV control room opened in March 2006 and has been developing since then with operators on duty 24 hours.
There are around 230 street CCTV cameras in the east London borough and some 70 are on direct view at any one time. Operators regularly sequence through cameras or areas to ensure a spread of viewing and certain problem areas are monitored closely.
When the operators see what they believe to be criminal activity taking place they alert the police and of the 63 incidents reported in April, 42 of these have resulted in an arrest.
Lead councillor for a cleaner, safer, greener borough Abdal Ullah said: “Last year the council invested in 35 new CCTV cameras across the borough and figures like this show that they are really effective in detecting crime.
“Through close working with the police, arrests can then be made helping to keep crime off our streets. The cameras are there to keep the law-abiding majority of people safe. But if you’re up to no good it’s worth remembering that there might just be someone watching you.
“The team in the CCTV room work really hard and the cameras are monitored 24 hours a day. I think they should all be proud of their work in helping to make the borough safer.”
Of the 42 crimes detected by the team which resulted in arrest in April, ten were for assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm. The CCTV control room also alerted the police to four incidents of drug possession as well as one person dealing drugs. Last year in the same period the CCTV room detected 31 crimes resulting in arrests – and a total of 525 over the year.
In January of this year 44 crimes were observed by the CCTV room – 11 of these were for public order and affray offences. In February, a total of 43 crimes were detected and 11 of these were for drugs possession.
