Smile...

Your North Jesmond councillors are very pleased to report that - after a long struggle with bureaucracy and technical obstacles - it has been agreed that the ward will acquire a new CCTV camera which can be retained exclusively for use in North Jesmond. It is 'redeployable' meaning that it can be shifted from location to location as required. In addition to this, the four cameras which we currently share with five neighbouring wards are being replaced and upgraded.

The new cameras will allow the police to monitor the streets in 'real time' (ultimately from a mobile phone or portable handset). This should lead to a much more rapid response when incidents occur. At our recent ward committee meeting, the local police inspector, Louise Cass-Williams, said how pleased she was about this new development. She was confident the new cameras "will be a lot more effective."

Your local councillors have agreed to put almost £18,000 from the Ward Capital fund towards this project. Councillor Peter Breakey commented. "Our colleague Bob Walker pushed for this for a long time and we fully support it. We hope the new cameras will help in the fight against drunken anti-social behaviour, which is one of Jesmond's most serious problems."

"These cameras also have the potential to be used for many other matters such as dog-fouling and littering. There is a debate of course, on whether or not they should be used for this sort of offence. My view is that - while nobody wants a Big Brother style society - cameras may be the only way to solve some of these apparently otherwise intractable problems. Initial surveys of residents have suggested they would support this, but we would like to know what other residents think."

Do you have a view on whether or not CCTV should be used for offences such as littering and dog fouling? If so, please let us know by emailing us on njesmond@newcastle-libdems.org.uk