Did you know that there are more than 850 CCTV cameras across Knowsley, installed to keep residents safe?
With cameras being regularly checked and maintained, Knowsley Council also invests in new state-of-the-art HD cameras as well as mobile units that can be deployed to hot-spot areas.
Monitored 24/7 by a team of specially trained council officers they work closely with Merseyside Police to share vital information to tackle live issues as well as information that allows police to deploy resources to specific areas of the borough.
Recently the team were instrumental in the deployment of Police Officers to Court Hey Park to disperse a group of young males drinking and breaching coronavirus guidelines.
The team are also able to provide CCTV footage to support Police investigations – recently witnessing a female in Kirkby damaging a car. Although she’d fled the scene before police arrived the images are now available for Police to investigate. Furthermore the team work closely with Knowsley Council’s Environmental Health Team to investigate incidents of fly tipping, with the use of CCTV the team are able to gather evidence which could lead to prosecutions of offenders.
Significantly, the team also look after the welfare of our residents. Most recently they saw an elderly person fall and hurt themselves. The team immediately notified the Police who deployed a response, with the CCTV team continuing to monitor the resident until the emergency services arrived.
Work has commenced on the installation of CCTV in Prescot Town Centre. Currently our engineer is installing the infrastructure needed to have the CCTV fully operational by late May/early June 2020. Once installed the CCTV will support the continued development of Prescot as a thriving visitor destination as it prepares for the opening of Shakespeare North.
Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, Cllr Shelley Powell, said: “We are committed to building better and safer communities in Knowsley and our continued investment in CCTV demonstrates this. Our specialist team are trained to safely monitor cameras 24/7 and on a daily basis show compassion for our residents and genuine commitment to tackling criminal and anti-social behaviour.”
Chief Inspector Phil Mullally, Knowsley Local Policing said: “It’s the invaluable work of Knowsley Council’s CCTV team that has meant we are able to deploy officers immediately to emergencies and also support active and ongoing investigations. We can’t tackle criminal and anti-social behaviour in isolation and the extensive CCTV network means that we can work together to build safer communities.”