CCTV cameras ‘focus on the wrong people’

Jane Bruccoleri

An Upper Norwood councillor claims CCTV cameras in his ward are more likely to catch people parking illegally than the robbers and muggers blighting the area.

A recent spate of crime in the Upper Norwood triangle has caused unrest among shopkeepers and residents and Councillor Pat Ryan believes cameras should be snaring those responsible.

Coun Ryan added: “If you park in the triangle for just one second you’ll get a ticket or brown envelope through the door. If you get mugged they never have any images of it. A mugger is more likely to get done for parking illegally than for their crime.”

Recently Westow Street newsagents Sweets was targeted by armed robbers who held staff at gunpoint before making off with cash.

Another local newsagents was also targeted the day before, while Barclays Bank was raided last month. Threshers, also in Westow Street, was hit by robbers in March.

Local resident and chair of the Phoenix Community Centre in Westow Street, Kathy Bonds, echoed Coun Ryan’s view and said muggings in the area were on the increase.

She said: “We really want to name and shame these people and say you can’t do that sort of thing up here.”

Both Coun Ryan and Ms Bonds claim most of the crime is committed by those living in neighbouring boroughs.

Upper Norwood has a police Safer Neighbourhood Team and is covered by a team which polices the area which adjoins Croydon, Lambeth and Bromley.

Ms Bonds added: “We are a natural community up here, which is why it should be very easy for the police to get the intelligence they need. People will come and do these sort of things in Upper Norwood if they think they can get away with it. We want to nip this in the bud.”

Coun Ryan added: “The police have got to wake up. The political side of it is done - we got the CCTV, it’s the operational side of it that now needs looking at.”

A council spokesman said: “The cameras installed across Croydon, and operated by the council’s community protection team, produce high-quality images recorded to a digital storage system.

“The captured images are of sufficient quality to be used - indeed, have been used in many instances - in the prosecution of individuals. The specification for the cameras requires that they produce a clear enough image to identify a person of 1.6m height, about 5ft 3in, at a distance of 100m.”

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