Police urge public to use mobiles in fight against crime
RESIDENTS are being urged to help police take criminals and louts off the streets of Peterborough – by using mobile phone cameras to get evidence.
RESIDENTS are being urged to help police take criminals and louts off the streets of Peterborough – by using mobile phone cameras to get evidence.Chief Superintendent Paul Phillipson, the man in charge of Peterborough police, said the public could turn their mobiles into a new weapon in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour which is blighting many areas.
Making the plea, Chief Supt Phillipson gave a pat on the back to members of the neighbourhood watch scheme on the Park Farm estate at Stanground, whose camera phone evidence has already resulted in one conviction and three other court cases pending.
Chris Harper, chairman of Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch, urged residents in other areas to follow their lead, and said: "Members have been gathering evidence with their cameras, and the bonus for us and everyone living on Park Farm, has been a massive drop in problems, which is what we wanted."
Things have certainly been quieter since residents caught a man in the act of illegally riding a scramble bike on the roads and pavement. Now he's been banned from driving for six months and fined 180, and has discovered this neighbourhood watch group means business.
Ch Supt Phillipson said: "We are asking communities in Peterborough to join in the fight against crime and make their streets and neighbourhoods no-go areas for criminals.
"To this end, we are encouraging people to capture crime and incidents of anti-social behaviour and disorder using their mobile phones whenever it's possible and safe to do so.
"Capturing a visual record of an incident can make a huge difference to us in the investigation of a crime, and in providing solid evidence as part of a prosecution case.
"We don't want members of the community to go out targeting people or putting themselves at risk or in danger by photographing incidents, but we do want them to photograph or record, if they can, suspicious activity, crimes or anti-social acts, and supply it to us for further investigation.
"We have had a number of successes, thanks to the hard work of officers, and neighbourhood watch groups using this technology to supply us with the valuable information, intelligence and evidence we need."
Stanground crime-fighters have caught several incidents of anti-social behaviour on their mobiles, including an alleged incident of youths racing motorbikes on the pavement, and several prosecutions are now under way.
Mr Harper said: "We liaised with our local Community Beat Manager Pc Ben Duce because we had a problem with mini-motorcycles and lots of complaints from members and non-members of the scheme.
"Pc Duce advised us that the best evidence we could give him was photographs of people on the bikes.
"That way, we could e-mail him or he could pick them up from us. We've had some good results from this work."
Mobile phone footage can be supplied to police through the e-cops e-mail scheme, or direct to officers via e-mail.
"Pictures can also be printed off and taken into, or posted to, Thorpe Wood and Bridge Street police stations.
Anyone submitting a photograph or video footage should ensure they include their details, and as much information about when and where the incident took place as possible.
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Thursday 09 September 2010
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