COUNCIL chiefs are set to decide whether to launch a fresh look at York’s CCTV network to see if it is succeeding in combating crime.

The call for the effectiveness of the city’s array of cameras to be analysed has been made by a councillor who also wants to study what residents think about its presence on the streets, and whether they fear it has become a Big Brother-style intrusion.

City of York Council’s community safety overview and scrutiny committee will now assess whether Holgate councillor Denise Bowgett’s request for the CCTV situation, its value for money and the impact it has had on cutting offences to be reviewed should be taken forward when it meets next week.

Among the evidence it is expected to take on board when considering whether the issue is suitable for scrutiny will be information from the Safer York Partnership about how cameras are currently used throughout the city.

In her submission to the committee, Coun Bowgett said she hoped such a review would “identify the current cost to the council of the provision and maintenance of CCTV across the city” and “understand the public’s perception of its effectiveness”.

She added she felt it was important to know whether the cameras were perceived as making people feel safer or as “an invasion of privacy” and that studying how they work would provide a framework for improving their role as a deterrent and reducing the public’s fear of crime.

Coun Bowgett’s suggestions for how a new study could work, if approved, include meeting CCTV operators to gather their views, using crime statistics to assess how many convictions have been obtained as a result of the system’s coverage and discovering how cameras have worked in other parts of the country.

A report by council scrutiny officer Melanie Carr which will go before the meeting said the topic could also focus on whether York businesses believe enhanced CCTC coverage has benefited them.

Last year, The Press reported how secret CCTV cameras were being installed in the Holgate area – which had been dogged by burglaries, thefts and bogus callers – while new cameras were also to be placed in Bishopthorpe Road following a two-year campaign by local traders.


Cameras in the spotlight

YORK’S stance on CCTV came under the spotlight in July 2007 when The Press revealed the city’s cameras went unmanned during the night for nine months.

This meant that, although lenses were still being trained on the streets, there was nobody there to raise the alarm if they spotted a crime taking place after 9pm on weekdays and 1am on weekends.

The problem lasted from September 2006 to May 2007 because City of York Council was having difficulties filling a vacancy for a night operator, although that was later resolved.

But the revelation left local councillors stunned, with Coun Ian Gillies, leader of the authority’s Conservative group, saying at the time: “What is the point of having cameras running 24 hours a day if nobody is monitoring them?”