Police radio access for Romford CCTV staff

Council CCTV staff will now have direct access to police radios.

The move will see Havering Council’s CCTV operation, based in the Waterloo Estate, Romford, able to contact police directly from its control room so that incidents can be reported immediately.

Council staff will be using the police Airwaves system to alert police of anything suspicious on one of the control room’s 700 cameras.

The system will allow police to be guided by staff monitoring CCTV when pursuing suspects.

Deputy council leader Cllr Damian White said: “Our CCTV systems already go some way in preventing criminal activity and boosting safety in our borough.

But now we can keep our neighbourhoods even safer as we’ll be able to help the police respond even faster to those who might need help or are causing trouble.”

PC Jon Learmouth, who helped to set up the initiative, said: “I recognised there was no direct link between the police and the council’s CCTV control suite and set in motion the steps to make this happen. After meetings with the Digital Policing Team, Havering Council and the Home Office we got the licence to set up the equipment.

“It will not only assist officers but also help to deter criminals and stop them in their tracks.”