Harold Hill's much-praised community task force have secured another high tech weapon in their battle to combat street crime and anti-social behaviour.
This year the team will have the use of mobile CCTV cameras which police say can "target crime hot spots" at short notice and provide valuable intelligence information.
Sgt Rick Falco of the task force told the Brentwood Gazette the cameras had already proven their worth in an operation in Heaton Grange and would be used across Harold Hill to target areas of particular concern.
He said: "These are not fixed cameras. We can put them up where we need them and an officer will be deployed in the locality to monitor the pictures on a screen in a nearby vehicle or building."
Unlike traditional CCTV cameras which record goings-on and can be used by police after an event or incident has occured, the mobile unit's monitoring officer will be able to call for intervention before an incident occurs or be able to catch culprits red handed in the act.
The ability to move the cameras and fix them to almost anything means criminals will no longer be out of sight anywhere in Harold Hill - even the parks ands open spaces can be targeted.
Sgt Falco added: "We will liaise with the council to target the problem areas and we can use the cameras in areas where there is no main line CCTV - in those hard to reach places - so it's good for intelligence gathering."
Published Wednesday January 14, 2004
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