Enfield Council will spend almost £1 million on an expansion of its CCTV network as it attempts to make the borough one of the safest in London.
The £958,000 investment will further the cameras reach in 24 new locations across the borough and will build on the current network of 259 surveillance cameras. Two mobile automatic number plate readers are to also be purchased as part of the programme.
Under the new expansion plans, cameras are to be installed in areas identified by experts as more susceptible to specific crimes, in an effort help make communities safer and combat the fear of crime among residents.
More than 1,000 suspects were arrested through CCTV evidence between April and December 2012 and Councillor Christine Hamilton, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for community wellbeing and public health, claims the expanded network is vital to support the police at a challenging time for the borough.
It was recently announced that Winchmore Hill police station will close down and both Southgate and Enfield police stations are facing significantly reduced hours. However, the CCTV expansion should help the police and provide them with information about criminals more easily, according to the councillor.
“Enfield is a safe borough but we want to make it the safest in London for our residents and make it a nicer place in which to live, work and visit,” said Hamilton.
“We work incredibly hard with all our partners to reduce crime and make people feel safer, and the expansion of our already excellent CCTV network will make it easier for us to detect crime and assist our colleagues in the police to apprehend criminals across the whole of our borough, but especially in those areas where crime is higher than we’d like.
“We will never be complacent and we’ll always look to reduce crime and an expanded CCTV network means there will be no place for criminals to hide in this borough. My message to criminals is clear – if you are thinking of coming to Enfield to commit crimes, don’t bother, we’ll find you, apprehend you and prosecute you so you cannot pose a threat to our residents.”
