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Project Background
As part of a litter clean-up campaign (Don’t Mess with Wiltshire), Wiltshire Council were looking to increase the surveillance of hot spot locations where fly-tipping and illegal waste removal were taking place.
Following some extra investment allocated to support litter enforcement, the Council wanted to help maintain the beauty of the areas, particularly focusing on layby locations, which were most popular for this type of crime.
Known for its serene scenery, littering and fly-tipping disrupts the local area for residents and visitors, whilst creating large costs for the Council who are held responsible for cleaning it up following any incidents.
By implementing new CCTV systems, the aim was to reduce the number of littering incidents and catch individuals in the act in order to supply them with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).
The Challenge
When deciding the locations, Cllr Dominic Muns, Cabinet Member for Waste and Environment, said: “Laybys are often litter hotspots, where thoughtless and careless people throw rubbish from vehicles, damaging the environment and generally making Wiltshire a less pleasant place.”
These types of locations can be difficult to monitor due to the high-volume of traffic utilising them, their remote locations and safety risks related to being alongside roads.
As most of the individuals littering will be road users, it is easy for them to leave the scene quickly without facing any repercussions for their actions. Tracking can be difficult also as these types of areas often have less surveillance.
The main challenge for Wiltshire Council is that their aim was to both reduce incidents and capture individuals who were littering. Most CCTV systems can capture footage to provide the FPN to those littering, however, will not provide the crime deterrent factor required, hence why they seeked the support from ourselves.
The Solution - CCTV Towers
Wiltshire Council invested in three of our mobile CCTV Towers which were installed across three laybys labelled as littering hotspots to help prevent, catch and change the future behaviours of offenders.
Standing up to 6 metres tall and bright yellow in colour, our Towers worked perfectly for the Council’s requirements. Providing a criminal deterrent factor that also utilises high-quality video backed by remote monitoring services, they help intercept and capture offenders.
There are many benefits to using a remote monitoring service, but for Wiltshire Council in particular it allows Police to focus more time in other areas rather than having to monitor these locations themselves.
Additionally, the infrared PTZ technology and near 360 degree view allows for precise tracking of offenders and recordings of events which can be stored and used as evidence when implementing FPNs to the relevant individuals.
The Result
Following this CCTV crackdown on the matter, Cllr Dominic Muns, Cabinet Member for Waste and Environment, said, “We have committed to take responsibility for the environment as part of our Business Plan, and we will take action to reduce, prevent and - where required - take action against littering in Wiltshire.
“We are fortunate to live and work in a beautiful county, rich in wildlife and environmental wonders - and we want to keep it litter free and wonderful.”
Through the use of our CCTV Towers, we have been able to support them with their campaign in improving the local scenery and reducing the number of incidents across the three hotspots.
Our footage has also helped with tracking down offenders and providing them with a £500 FPN for committing such an offence.
Recently, Wiltshire Council were shortlisted for the Enforcement Excellence Award at the national Keep Britain Tidy Awards after being highly commended for its work to tackle environmental crime.
Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways and Street Scene, said: “The number of fly-tips in Wiltshire has been on a downward trend over the course of last year. We've also seen a 31% increase in fly-tipping prosecutions year on year. We are taking all the legal options available to us wherever we find fly-tipping, giving a clear warning that illegal waste disposal is not tolerated, and offenders will face serious consequences.
“Our message is clear - We're Targeting Fly-tippers here in Wiltshire.”
‘Don’t Mess with Wiltshire’ is an ongoing campaign that will require continuous support to ensure the safety and scenery of the County. With the use of our CCTV Towers, Wiltshire can move them to other locations with our support if further hotspots arise to allow for a flexible, yet cost-effective security solution.
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