Falkirk's CCTV upgrade project hopes to help cut crime

Falkirk Council’s CCTV/Digital Hub project is said to be progressing on time and within budget. Police Scotland have reportedly welcomed the improvement it will make to crime detection and prevention and are keen to work in partnership with the council.

This follows on from the force stepping up patrols in the east end of Falkirk town centre following an increase in incidents of anti-social behaviour and vandalism – some of which resulted in damage being caused to business premises in the area.

The matter will be discussed at a meeting of Falkirk Council’s executive on Tuesday, March 15, where members will be asked to note the progress being made on the

implementation of the CCTV/Digital Hub and associated CCTV cameras.

The report documents for next week’s meeting state the council has installed/upgraded 48 of the planned 61 fixed CCTV cameras and the remaining cameras are on

target to be installed and operating by the end of March 2022.

Falkirk Central has the most cameras with 19, followed by Grangemouth with 15 and Stenhousemuir/Larbert boasting six.

The report added a further 20 mobile CCTV cameras have now been purchased, with five units in the Helix Park, three at the municipal buildings and two at Zetland Park in Grangemouth.

It was stated Falkirk Council had recently had very “positive discussions” with Police Scotland with a view to reaching a partnership agreement on the CCTV/Digital Hub and the local authority receiving an increase from police in terms of their financial contribution to the partnership.

The police currently contribute £32,000 a year – which equates to 13 per cent of the revenue cost of service delivery. The report states Police Scotland is currently

seeking approval for this contribution from within their organisation and once this is confirmed the revised partnership agreement will be signed off.

There are plans to re-locate the CCTV Monitoring Service and co-locate this with the existing Out of Hours alarm and telecare monitoring services at The Foundry, Larbert by June this year.

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