19 Feb 2020
On Friday, 15 February 2020, Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn held an event at Dyfed Powys Headquarters to mark the completion of the new CCTV infrastructure in 24 towns throughout Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys.
When Mr Llywelyn made his election pledge to reinstate CCTV in the force area he was determined to see it come to fruition. Over 150 state of the art HD CCTV cameras with 25x optical zoom and 360 degrees turning capability, have now been installed in 24 towns across the force area.
Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said: “I am really pleased that the CCTV project has come to fruition and is now completed. I am very grateful to see the force responding to the pledge I made to reintroduce a CCTV infrastructure in the Dyfed-Powys Police force area: To deliver this project has taken a lot of effort from lots of different people - diolch.
“It’s all about making sure our communities are as safe and secure as possible and it is very encouraging to see the positive impact the CCTV infrastructure, its centralised monitoring suite and our team of CCTV operators are having on policing throughout the force. I look forward to be able to open our doors to the community representatives once again, for them to see the system to understand the level of investment made and for them to see the impact CCTV is already having throughout the force.”
To celebrate the accomplishment, the Police and Crime Commissioner invited Councillors and other community representatives to Police Headquarters to see for themselves how cameras are being proactively monitored from a centralised monitoring suite.
Emlyn Dole, Carmarthenshire Council Leader said: “The Police and Crime Commissioner is to be commended for his decision not only to overturn his predecessor's decision, but to ensure that the cameras are installed across Dyfed-Powys and are of the highest quality. Already in our major towns in Carmarthenshire the decision has proved its validity as the cameras have helped to catch and sentence offenders. I have long been calling for the safety of Llanelli town centre - now that the cameras are in place everyone is feeling happier as police can keep a constant eye on what's happening there. ”
“It was nice to visit the operating room at HQ and see how effective the system is and how the team operates. As Leader of Carmarthenshire, I can only commend Dafydd's enthusiasm in his effort to ensure that this area remains the safest place in Britain.”
Camera locations were identified by listening to community concerns matched with a review of crime pattern analysis. This included analysing the towns’ crime data, the number of emergency and non-emergency calls for police service received, the level of reported anti-social behaviour and hate crime incidents.
Ceredig Davies, Councillor for Aberystwyth, Ceredigion said, “As the ward councillor for the centre of Aberystwyth, with its eight CCTV cameras, I believed it was a retrograde step a few years ago for Ceredigion Council to cease their operation. The cameras were recognised by residents and businesses as an useful tool in monitoring criminal and anti social behaviour in the town. I was sceptical if we would see their return but my worries were ill founded as was evident when I recently visited the CCTV suite at the police headquarters in Carmarthen.”
“Not only have we our cameras back but there are more of them and the quality of the recorded video footage was far superior to what we had in the past. I would like to commend the Police and Crime Commissioner for keeping to his manifesto promise and delivering such a state of the art system.”
The cameras are monitored from a suite located in the Force Communications Centre, where all emergency and less urgent calls for police support are received. The cameras are proactively monitored by a team of four CCTV Operators who are overseen by a CCTV Coordinator.
CCTV footage has already proven crucial evidence in police investigations. The quality of the footage has been so compelling, some suspects have pleaded guilty to the offences they were accused of. One such example being a grievous bodily harm case where a male victim was knocked unconscious with a single punch to the head outside The Met Bar in Llanelli in November 2018.
The incident was clearly captured on a Dyfed-Powys Police CCTV camera and when presented to the suspect, he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
In Newtown, Powys, a young man was captured on CCTV smashing a shop window walking through the town on a night out. He was identified from the CCTV. He had no recollection of the incident as he was under the influence of alcohol. He apologised profusely to the shopkeeper and paid for a new window.
As well as helping in the prevention and detection of crime, CCTV is assisting with the protection of vulnerable people in the force. Operators assist with searching for missing people and people in mental distress. There are clear examples of how vulnerable people have been swiftly reunited with their loved ones thanks to CCTV acting as an extra set of eyes covering a much larger area on camera than officers could on foot in the same length of time.
Chief Constable Mark Collins said: “We are dealing with an increasing number of vulnerable people with mental health or personal issues that have caused them to go missing or to experience mental distress. Police receive calls of this nature and have to respond quickly to fulfil our duty of care. All we want to do is reunite them with their families and ensure they don’t come to any harm. CCTV is having a significant impact in this area, finding missing people, locating people who are threatening to harm themselves and bringing matters to a positive conclusion. The new infrastructure and the monitoring team are an invaluable tool that we are already making good use of within the force.”
ENDS
Note to editors
The Police and Crime Commissioner can be available for interviews.
For further information on the CCTV rollout, including a list of towns that have received CCTV cameras, please click here: https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/en/accessing-information/cctv-in-dyfed-powys-police/
For further information on the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner, visit:
http://www.dyfedpowys-pcc.org.uk/en/the-commissioner/role-of-the-police-crime-commissioner/
Contact details – Gruffudd Ifan, Policy and Engagement Advisor 01267 226440 / gruffudd.ifan.opcc@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk
Facebook / Twitter @DPOPCC
