Call for more police funding after CCTV debate

Council bosses North East Lincolnshire will ask the government for more money to deal with crime across the authority’s area.

Despite a motion from Conservative Councillor Oliver Freeston calling on the authority to invest in more CCTV in residential areas being defeated, councillors instead voted narrowly with Labour Councillor  to:

• Write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and local government James Brokenshire to ask for more money for “anti-crime related infrastructure such as CCTV
• Write to Home Secretary Sajid Javid asking for a return to levels of funding which council chiefs said police forces “received prior to sweeping austerity programmes”.

In his maiden speech to the authority, Councillor Freeston said: “I want to address one of the most worrying issues that the people of North East Lincolnshire face – rising crime levels.

“Like my colleagues I am pleased to see the council spending money on things that improve daily lives of residents.

“Crime has shot up in the past few years and it now seems commonplace to read about burglaries, assaults, vandalism and break-ins. Something has to be done.

“This is not about politics, its about the safety of the public and their protection. They want to see this council take their safety seriously.”

However, his motion was defeated after councillors said it was too vague and raised concerns over where cameras would go, the cost and people’s concerns over privacy.

Councillors were told, however, that an authority scrutiny panel was already reviewing CCTV and investment into more resources.

Debate also centred around the effectiveness of CCTV and the impact of police cuts.

Putting forward his amendment, Councillor Bolton said: “CCTV is just one of several tools in fighting crime, and crucially, it is substantially more effective with a well-funded police presence to respond to incidents in progress and to investigate incidents caught on camera.”

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