CCTV cameras which will aim to tackle anti-social behaviour in Hetton have been installed using £51,000 in Government funding.
Four new cameras are now active in the area after the Hetton Altogether Linking Opportunities (HALO) project was granted up to £51,000 from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund. It is hoped the cameras will deter anti-social behaviour and environmental crime.
HALO, along with Sunderland City Council and a range of partners, including Northumbria Police, Gentoo, and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue are working more closely together for the community and this follows a similar and successful project called SARA in Southwick - Southwick Altogether Raising Aspirations. The SAIL project - Sunderland Altogether Improving Lives - is also active in the city centre.
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Councillor Claire Rowntree, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, Cabinet Member for Clean Green City and a Hetton ward councillor, said: "We are a listening council, and we will continue to work with residents on tackling the issues that we know are important to them. Extra CCTV cameras will act as a deterrent to offenders and help us to prosecute anyone who breaks the law by providing evidence.
"If you know or see problems around Hetton whether it is littering or fly-tipping or other criminal activity it is always important to report them and this can always be done confidentially."
Hetton’s crime and anti-social behaviour work includes moves to tackle crime including motorbike disorder, building up community engagement and resilience, and the CCTV investment. The new cameras will be mounted to street columns in identified hot spots but are portable and can be relocated where necessary.
Sergeant Martyn Scott, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is brilliant news for the area – and I am looking forward to seeing the positive impact in the community. CCTV is a vital resource to policing as it helps us to keep people safe as well as to detect, deter and disrupt criminality on a daily basis.
“We will continue to use this technology in collaboration with our partners to protect those who may be vulnerable and deliver effective justice through the crucial evidence it so often provides.”
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