CCTV demand after Kirkwall vandalism
(Story dated: June 26, 2003)

Victoria Street, Kirkwall - plagued by vandals

A disgruntled Kirkwall woman has called for closed circuit television cameras to be installed throughout the town's main streets to help combat vandalism she claims is making life a misery for residents.

The woman, who lives in Victoria Street and wishes to remain anonymous, said she had been plagued by vandalism in recent months. She said many other properties in Victoria Street are also frequent targets and said the situation was now getting out of hand.

The 60-year-old explained that the problem escalates at weekends when people are out drinking. Troublemakers often break shop and house windows, vomit outside houses, urinate on walls, and damage parked cars, she said. People regularly walk on the roofs, tear off licence plates and wing mirrors and scratch the paintwork of unattended cars, she added.

The latest incident occurred last weekend, when a car belonging to guests who were visiting her home was attacked. The vehicle now needs a new bonnet, new wing mirrors and a respray due to the extent of the damage.

And the woman said that the majority of Victoria Street residents are now at the end of their tether, with serious damage being caused almost every weekend.

"It's no use going out to speak to them because you just get the height of abuse," she said. A number of residents have raised the matter with the police, but it is rare that the culprits are apprehended, she added. "People tell the police, but they rarely get anyone unless they catch them doing it. More police out on the beat could make a difference. It's about time that something was done about it.

"People are almost afraid to go out of their own front door on a Saturday night. You can understand that in a big city like Aberdeen or Glasgow, but not in Orkney. It's nearly at the stage when we just want to sell up and move out of town," she said.

The trouble in Victoria Street has reached such an extent that the woman has installed her own CCTV camera on the wall outside her house, looking down the street. This enables her to see anyone vandalising property nearby. But the camera only covers a small area and she has now called for CCTV coverage of Bridge Street, Albert Street, Broad Street and Victoria Street to try to cut down on vandalism.

"Just the presence of a camera would maybe deter them," she said.

However, Orkney Islands Council chief engineer, Mr John Holmes, said that it was an "impossible situation". "We actually increased the lighting in Victoria Street and yet vandalism also seems to be increasing," he said.

Mr Holmes added that the best types of cameras to use would be portable ones which can be moved to a location where there is a specific problem.

Orkney's community safety officer, PC Jim Mollison, said that he is looking into installing CCTV cameras in various areas of Kirkwall on a trial basis. "We are exploring the possibility of running a trial period with CCTV, although this is still in the early stages. To get it up and running we would need public support and more importantly financial support.

"We would probably look at installing it for around three months or so around October time," he said.

CCTV cameras were installed outside the public toilets at the pier head in Kirkwall by the OIC last year, following complaints of vandalism. Cameras were also installed at the amenity sites in South Ronaldsay and Garson, in Stromness, to battle crime and improper disposal of waste, and have proved to be a successful deterrent.