Camera cuts crime rate

A parade of shops in Mansfield that was a hotspot for anti-social behaviour (ASB) and crime has seen problems plummet following the installation of a new CCTV camera.
A new CCTV camera at Ravensdale Road, Mansfield has been a success in reducing anti-social behaviour, pictured are from left Coun Mick Barton, Coun Christine Smith and residents Harry Hall and Lorraine WoolleyA new CCTV camera at Ravensdale Road, Mansfield has been a success in reducing anti-social behaviour, pictured are from left Coun Mick Barton, Coun Christine Smith and residents Harry Hall and Lorraine Woolley
A new CCTV camera at Ravensdale Road, Mansfield has been a success in reducing anti-social behaviour, pictured are from left Coun Mick Barton, Coun Christine Smith and residents Harry Hall and Lorraine Woolley

Between February 2010 and February 2013 police received a total of 1,512 calls reporting problems on Ravensdale Road, Barringer Road and Hibbert Road.

But in the four months since the camera was installed there have only been four reported incidents of ASB; one on the field and just three in front of the shops.

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Harry Hall, 70, of Ravensdale Avenue, said: “Before the camera was installed you could guarantee that every weekend the bus shelter would be smashed or the phone box would be vandalised. They would abuse the shopkeepers - shouting and ranting and threatening.

“The camera is a deterrent and it deters some of the yobboes. There is still the odd hooligan who races around the roundabout. This is brilliant news.”

Mario Okla, 32, owner of Papas fish and chip shop on Ravensdale Road, said: “I don’t see any trouble now - nothing at all. I am always in the shop. There were more teenagers outside before and that might have led to complaints. Now it’s very quiet. It has been a definite success.”

Councillor Christine Smith said: “It’s excellent news that the number of complaints has fallen so drastically. As well as CCTV the warden teams from the council have increased their profile.

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“There had been intermittent problems with things being thrown at shop fronts and verbal abuse. When there are large groups of people congregating and being noisy it puts people off going into the shops.”

Neighbourhood warden team leader Lorraine Dryden said: “It is a vital tool in helping police to identify those committing criminal and anti-social acts by providing evidential support. This, in turn, has led to interventions to address the behaviour of those identified and, where relevant, to arrests and prosecutions.

The camera, which includes an audio speaker, was installed at the beginning of February with the money coming entirely from Mansfield Partnership Against Crime. It is monitored in Mansfield District Council’s CCTV control room and figures for ASB and crime are fed into MPAC’s Carr Bank Partnership Plus group meeting on a bi-monthly basis.

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