The number of people arrested after being caught committing crime on CCTV in Lichfield and Burntwood has fallen by more than a third.
New figures from Lichfield District Council reveal that in 2013/14 157 arrests were made – down 38% from the previous year.
However, the amount of incidents of anti-social behaviour caught on camera rose by 22% to 223, while the number of assaults and violence captured by CCTV went up to 93 – a rise of 75.5%.
The performance of the system – which covers 129 cameras across the area – is highlighted in a report to a meeting of Lichfield District Council’s community, housing and health (overview and scrutiny) committee on Monday.
“The service cost Lichfield District Council £126,270 to operate in 2013/14 with about half of this being attributed to security in the car parks in Lichfield,” the report added.
“This is the net cost with 49% of the monitoring costs being met by Three Spires Shopping Centre.”
The report also revealed that the running costs equated to:
- cost per member of the local population: £1.29
- cost per incident: £77.70
- cost per hour of operation: £14.41
- cost per arrest: £804.27
“CCTV is just one of the tools that plays an important role in preventing and detecting crime and anti-social behaviour,” the report added. “It also helps us to protect vulnerable people and make people feel safer.”
