Council grant buys camera for county crime hotspots
Communities constantly troubled by anti-social behaviour are to receive help in the form of a new CCTV camera.
The Safer Bridgend Camera Partnership purchased the £12,000 camera with a grant from Bridgend County Borough Council and further funding from the Safer Bridgend Partnership will cover the costs to redeploy the camera.
"This redeployable camera is definitely going to reassure residents and reduce the fear of crime in our communities" said Emma-Louise Maher, Community Safety and Welfare Officer.
Cemetery Road was chosen as the pilot area for the camera following a publicised campaign by residents fed up with unrelenting vandalism, which saw their cars being scratched, wing mirrors being kicked off and anti-social behaviour being committed in late night attacks. At the time, retired nurse Ann Jones, 54, said: "It's just wanton violence and we fear what might happen next".
Pictures from the camera will be downloaded onto a computer at Bridgend council's CCTV monitoring centre in Bryncethin, Bridgend.
Miss Maher said the camera will be piloted in Cemetery Road for 28 days, beginning in around one month's time.
"If residents report an incident to us while the camera is up, we can then go and check the footage on the computer. If we have captured anything we will pass the pictures onto the police".
After the initial 28-day test period, the camera will be moved to another spot in the BridgendCounty and subsequently moved every 28 days.
"We will promise its use in areas where there is an obvious need and will be linking in with the Neighbourhood Policing PACT (Partnerships and Communities Together) priorities" said Miss Maher.
Cemetery Road resident and father-of-four Mike Sully, 47, said: "With all the problems that we have had in the street over the years, I'm over the moon that our campaign is paying dividends".