CCTV - Do we need it?
By Jim Mollison
Local Authority Liaison Officer

Vandalism continues to be a recurring problem throughout Orkney, with hundreds of pounds worth of damage being caused most weekends.

Unfortunately this damage brings with it a lot of unnecessary expense and grief for the victim who has now got a damaged vehicle, house/shop window etc to deal with.

The question is what do we do to prevent this dilemma in our community. I have tried over the years to pass on crime prevention advice, which has had partial success due to limited uptake.

Local police officers have looked at crime patterns to see if they can make better use of resources in an effort to catch the perpetrators. Unfortunately such is the widespread sporadic nature of these crimes that it is almost impossible to see any specific pattern.

I have also worked closely with my colleagues at Technical Services, Orkney Islands Council who are currently renewing a number of the town centre's street lighting.

Examples of this can be seen in Victoria Street, Kirkwall, which I am sure you will agree has made a tremendous difference to what it was. All of these have had a mixture of success, but none have unfortunately made any real impact.

Over the years myself and others have spoken about the pros and cons of CCTV. I must admit to having had mixed thoughts myself, with questions like: "But this is Orkney do we really need cameras here."

I now believe that we should seriously look at the possibility of introducing CCTV before we look back in a few years time and ask ourselves why we didn't do something earlier when we had a chance.

Yes I know, cameras are not always the answer, but used wisely they are a very effective tool, and no it doesn't replace any of the other measures that we use but merely complements them.

Do you think that the time has come for us to seriously consider CCTV in our towns?

Please let me have your thoughts by writing or phoning myself at Orkney Islands Council, 873535 Ext 2608.