Havering Council has recently invested nearly £3m into upgrading its CCTV network with a new state-of-the-art control room near the Town Hall in Romford.
The new control room will ensure the Council can continue to provide the all-important support to police and community safety and enforcement officers.
The Council, as part of the Havering Community Safety Partnership (HCSP), has led a project to upgrade the borough’s CCTV cameras and facilities.
This will help boost the role they play as the borough’s “eyes” in fighting crime and keeping everyone safer.
Over the last 18 months, there has been around 20,000 actions picked up by the CCTV control room and cameras.
This has included alerting police to crime, including anti-social behaviour taking place and providing footage that has helped lead to successful prosecutions.
The introduction of some additional re-deployable environmental cameras has led to nearly 2,000 enforcement actions against fly-tippers.
The funding for the upgrading of the CCTV is unique, with the majority coming from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) with the remainder coming from the Community infrastructure Levy (CIL) and the General Fund.
The project is part of the Havering’s flagship Where We Live campaign, aimed at empowering residents to feel proud and safe in the borough.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council and Councillor Barry Mugglestone, Havering’s Cabinet Member for Environment, recently visited the new premises, to speak to staff and see how the new cameras were operating.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:
“The work of our CCTV team is so important in helping us and the police in keeping our residents and visitors to our borough, as safe as possible.
“That is why we have invested in the new facilities and upgraded the CCTV network to modern standards.
“It will enable us to continue to take action, bring offenders to justice by providing vital evidence and to assure residents and visitors we are doing all we can to help make our borough safe.”
You can watch a video of their visit on Havering’s YouTube channel.