Mobile CCTV cameras to tackle crime 'hotspots' could come to Fareham as council launches first review of its £115,000 network

THE CCTV camera network across Fareham is to undergo its first review as the council continues it work to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Fareham Borough Council is to review its 115,000 a year CCTV network.Fareham Borough Council is to review its 115,000 a year CCTV network.
Fareham Borough Council is to review its 115,000 a year CCTV network.

Fareham Borough Council will review its use of 44 cameras across the borough, which is part of a partnership with Gosport Borough Council. 

Mobile cameras that can be moved to monitor crime ‘hot spots’ are being considered as a way to ‘future proof’ the network, according to Roy Brown, a project co-ordinator in Fareham council’s corporate projects team, addressing the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel  on Thursday, November 7. 

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Councillor Tiffany Harper said she hoped the review would address the lack of coverage affecting parts of the borough. 

She said: ‘Some people in the borough have no CCTV cover – at the moment some CCTV can’t be moved around very well.’

There are currently eight cameras across Portchester, and six across Stubbington, with more than ten cameras in Fareham town centre, monitored by a control room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by a control room 

But the council continues to face ‘financial challenges,’ with it costing approximately £115,000 a year to run Fareham’s part of the service.

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Mr Brown told the the panel: 'It is too early to say what our proposal will be.

‘We're trying to do is make sure what we are doing is the most effective way to tackle crime or deter crime.’

Councillor Pamela Bryant expressed concerns that fewer CCTV cameras could have an impact greater than a reduced monitoring of crime. 

She said: ‘People do feel safer when they know that there are cameras around, certainly with fewer police.’

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‘I would hate to see if reduced by very much at all – I'd like see it increased.’

Two PCSOs and two police officers are due to supplement police patrols across Fareham later this month, as Hampshire Constabulary works to recruit 356 new officers. 

It comes as the council looks to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour with a variety of schemes, including hiring two security guards to patrol the town centre and distributing a card to make it easier donating to homeless shelter Two Saints. 

The review is due to be published by the summer of 2020.