New state-of-the-art control room in Peterborough to help catch criminals

It truly is a state-of-the art facility, stepping inside feels you’ve wandered on to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise!

As soon as you enter the room, you’re confronted with a digital video wall of 12 large LED screens. There are three dedicated operator workstations consisting of a further nine screens, allowing officers to monitor footage from across Peterborough and Fenland 24/7.

Last week, we held a special launch event and welcomed representatives from both councils who were extremely impressed with the facility. Indeed, I had to prise them away from watching live footage on the screens so I could make a speech!

The facility provides a dedicated workspace for Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s CCTV liaison officer, who works alongside the CCTV team completing retrospective media reviews and evidence provision.

The control room also includes the connected CCTV customers that were under the operation and management by each council area.

Both councils have invested in CCTV, with each authority funding a full camera and recording server replacement and upgrade, to ensure that the continued provision of CCTV within Peterborough and Fenland provides high quality images and recordings.

Our utmost priority is the protection and safety of the public, and having this improved facility will support the detection and reduction of crime and disorder, as well as reducing the fear of crime within our camera zones.

The merger of CCTV services for both Fenland and Peterborough will also help deliver operational savings for each authority, whilst delivering improved services to local communities and customers.

Next week sees the first anniversary of the council’s Household Recycling Centre (HRC) celebrated. And it’s certainly something to celebrate, because the HRC has been successful in several ways.

Firstly, if you’ve visited it, you’ll know how much of a stark improvement on the previous HRC at Dogsthorpe it is.

For a start there are never any queues - getting in, dumping your rubbish and getting out is so much quicker and easier.

We were always confident that the HRC would help in our efforts to reduce fly-tipping in Peterborough and statistics show this is already happening.

Since it opened the total number of fly-tipping incidents is down by over 1,000, with the amount of waste collected reduced by 550 tonnes.

As always, if you see fly-tipping report it to us on 01733 747474 or online at www.peterborough.gov.uk

Another initiative that has had a positive effect in recent times is the city centre Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) and you can have your say on plans to keep it going.

The PSPO was set up in April 2017 and has succeeded in driving down many types of anti-social behaviour and crime in the city centre.

This includes big reductions in the number of people littering, which reduced by 44 per cent (2017/18 to 2018/19) and spitting, which reduced by 62 per cent in the same time period.

The council is currently seeking to extend the existing PSPO for the city centre for a further three years in April with changes to some of the conditions.

A public consultation is being held until February 28 and anyone who wants to take part should log onto ‘consultations’ page at www.peterborough.gov.uk or request a paper copy of the consultation from the Town Hall in Bridge Street.