Colchester Town CCTV Concerns

Colchester town CCTV is so bad that footage can’t be used to bring culprits of crime to court.

21:25 04 February 2018

The quality of Colchester town CCTV was the topic of discussion at the meeting of the Colchester Council trading board committee. Vic Flores (Con) said that the quality of footage of the said CCTV system is often so bad that it cannot be used in court. However, Chris Pearson (Lab) warned that spreading CCTV “far and wide across the town can cause the council to become the “Big Brother” of Colchester.  

 

Mr Flores said: “I am hearing stories that when CCTV is actually used, the imaging is not good enough to be able to identify people.

 

“In my ward we’ve got a skateboard park which is being cut off from CCTV, which has resulted in an increase in drug use - so I just wondered how often is the system reviewed for quality in regards to the update of the service?”

 

Mr Pearson, for Berechurch ward, responded by saying: “I think we just need to be a little bit cautious about becoming Big Brother for the whole of the town,” he said.

 

“I think we need to be careful about how far and wide we spread CCTV.

 

“I know it is probably deep in the mists of time for most of us, but when you’re a teenager spreading your wings, the last thing that you want is somebody monitoring every single thing you do.

 

“We have to allow children to develop and push their boundaries without constant oversight.”