Express & Star

New £1.7 million plan to boost CCTV in Dudley borough

A £1.7 million programme to boost CCTV surveillance across Dudley is gathering pace with new state-of-the-art cameras being brought in.

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A stock photo of a CCTV camera

The programme of work will eventually see a network of cameras equipped with the latest digital technology installed to keep the borough safe.

As part of the scheme, the current central control base will move from a local police station to a new, highly secure facility specifically designed to meet the requirements and demands required of a modern CCTV service.

That will trigger a major investment plan to bring in new high-tech cameras, giving greater capacity to monitor town centres and hotspot crime areas, while providing live CCTV images to the control room in conjunction with West Midlands Police.

Councillor Laura Taylor, cabinet member for housing, communities and residents’ welfare, said: "CCTV is one of the many ways we can tackle many issues such as crime, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping across the whole of the borough.

"Not only does CCTV make people feel safe, the cameras act as a deterrent to would-be criminals and the footage captured can be critical in prosecutions.

"For all this to happen, it is essential we have a fully functioning network of the very best cameras which will allow us to continue our excellent partnership working with police.”

An audit of 80 cameras across the borough has found many are old, outdated or in need of repair.

Once the scheme is complete there will be a mixture of static and mobile cameras, expanding to more areas than before.

The council is planning to overhaul the system and replace the cameras by spring next year.

The first part of the plan involves moving the control room out of the police station and into its new base which will have state of the art security for staff.