Mobile camera focus on yobs (From Oxford Mail)

Mobile camera focus on yobs

9:09am Thursday 1st February 2007

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Businesses and residents hope to see a fall in antisocial behaviour and crime after a new mobile CCTV camera started operating this week.

South Oxfordshire District Council launched the camera - currently fixed to a lamp post in Wheatley High Street, opposite a parade of shops - on Tuesday.

The area has been a gathering area for groups and there have been problems with vandalism and criminal damage.

The camera, which is recording 24 hours a day and can rotate through 360 degrees, will remain in Wheatley for around six weeks before it is moved to other villages in the south of the county suffering antisocial behaviour.

South Oxfordshire District Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Thames Valley Police and parish councils are working jointly to run a year-long trial.

In Wheatley, the initiative is being used alongside a dispersal order introduced in September after a rise in reports of antisocial behaviour.

Police can now order two or more people behaving in an antisocial manner to leave the area and not return for 24 hours.

If they refuse or return they could be arrested and prosecuted.

Mary Blake, partner of Wheatley Estate Agents in the parade where the camera has been put up, said: "We are not affected during the daytime, but I know there has been some nuisance in the evenings.

"The school children tend to hang around outside Londis and The Cornfield Bakery after school - I think mainly, to get a bottle of pop or a cake before they decide to go home.

"But in the evenings I think the problem is the older children that make a lot of noise and cause a bit more bother. I think this camera is a good thing, particularly if it helps to control the problem in the village."

Julie Germaine, who said she hadn't experience any antisocial behaviour, was pleased that a camera had been installed.

Mrs Germaine, who owns the Wheatley Deli, opposite the parade entrance, said: "I haven't personally experienced any antisocial behaviour in the village. There have been some problems0 but it hasn't affected me.

"Obviously it is a busy village, what with a comprehensive and primary school here, and there is generally a lot of children going in and out of the shops."

Pat Dawe, South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet member for community safety, said: "While South Oxfordshire has relatively low crime levels, compared with other parts of the country, antisocial behaviour has an impact on people's lives and on local businesses.

"We are using the camera to deter antisocial behaviour and provide the police with an extra tool in tackling crime."

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