Somerset Council’s CCTV operators have helped police deal with almost 700 incidents in just three months across Burnham-On-Sea, Bridgwater, Taunton, Street, Wellington and Shepton Mallet.
The service, which is funded by city, town and parish councils across Somerset, plays a key role in crime prevention, emergency response and community safeguarding.
Between September and November this year, the team reported 690 incidents to emergency services. Police also requested CCTV footage 391 times to support investigations, while operators proactively detected 408 incidents themselves.
Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Communities, Housing and Culture, said: “These figures underline how vital our CCTV operators are to community safety. Thanks to their hard work and dedication criminals are being apprehended, serious incidents are being prevented and vulnerable people supported.”
She added: “We are grateful for the continued support and funding we receive from our town, city and parishes councils.”
“Alongside this we recognise the importance of having state-of-the-art technology and are rolling out upgrades across the service.”
Several CCTV systems across the county, including Burnham-On-Sea and Street, have recently been upgraded to high-definition cameras, with further improvements underway in Taunton, Wellington and Shepton Mallet.
