Rotherham CCTV Cameras Have Technical Issues

Two out of five CCTV cameras in Rotherham are broken while a third are not being used.

12:49 13 March 2020

Rotherham Council invested £60,000 for the installation of one mobile camera for Swinton, Rawmarsh, Rotherham West, and Wath to boost existing CCTV network. The cameras were soon hit by mechanical problems with two out of five broken and a third not being used.

 

Sam Barstow, head of community safety, says in a report: “At times units do develop faults and it is understood that repairs can often take time.

 

“This is often due to the requirement to source replacement parts for the units. The council does not hold a contract or agreement for servicing and repair and therefore targets are not in place for the time taken for repairs.

 

“Further consideration will be given to ongoing maintenance and repair within a wider full-system review of CCTV which will commence in April.”

 

Rawmarsch saw a spike in a number of complaints about antisocial behaviour, violence, large groups of around 20 people gathering and drug abuse, among others.

 

The council says CCTV by itself is not a solution and is often accompanied by increased patrols. Their report adds: “Due to the nature of antisocial behaviour and the fact that the equipment is not hidden, it does not generally identify offences. In many cases, the units have a positive preventative effect.”