CCTV footage from Enniskillen town cenre
OVER 1,200 potentially criminal incidents were recorded by the Enniskillen CCTV – the hotspot recorded as the town’s Diamond area.
These are just some of the facts and figures revealed in the latest Enniskillen CCTV report obtained by the Fermanagh Herald this week.
Figures are broken down into ‘incidents’ and ‘crimes’.
The incident count for 2012/13 is the highest on record since the first year of operation (1267) – however – those incidents that were deemed ‘crimes’, (414), are the lowest since 2009/10.
This year marked the fifth year of CCTV being used in the town – seven, from Darling Street to Gaol Square – and a total of 3100 crimes have been recorded.
Crimes are recorded as: Assault; sexual/indecency offences; burglary; theft; robbery; criminal damage; and ‘other’.
This year, drinking in public was the most recorded incident – with a total of 240 during the period of April 2012 – March 2013.
That represents a 29% increase over the year prior. Positively, the number of ‘fights’ fell from 104 to 78. Urinating in public was counted 123 times in the year, while littering was recorded just twice.
Chairman of Fermanagh Policing and Community Partnership (PCSP), Rosemary Barton, described the CCTV as having a ‘positive contribution’ to community safety in Enniskillen.
She said: “It monitors both road safety and public safety, thus creating a safer environment for residents, traders and tourists and therefore increasing community confidence in the area.
“There have been several incidents where the CCTV system has been useful in both preventing and detecting crime. Statistics indicate that CCTV has had a positive impact on crime in Enniskillen town centre.
“This monitoring system I believe has been a deterrent to criminal activity in the town centre and also increased the number of convictions secured. It has also contributed to greater and more effective deployment of police resources in response to incidents in the town,” she added.
Night-time economy
CLOSE TO 50% of all incidents were recorded between the timeframe of 1am and 4am.
That was 594 incidents of 1267 – while between 8pm and 12 midnight, 360 incidents were recorded.
The report acknowledges that this is to do with the town’s ‘night-time’ and ‘evening’ economy. The ‘safest’ time, in terms of least incidents, was unsurprisingly 4am until 8am.
Assaults
A TOTAL of 162 assaults were recorded in Enniskillen town centre between April 2012 and March 2013.
The hotspot was Townhall street, with 31 reported, closely followed by the diamond with 29 incidents, and Darling Street (23).
Wellington Road/broadmeadow/ Shore Road totalled 17 crimes.
The safest streets in the town
NO INCIDENTS of crime were recorded in three areas of Enniskillen town centre by the seven CCTV cameras in the town.
These three areas were Anne Street, where in the year prior three crimes had been recorded; Wesley Street, which equalled last year’s record of zero crimes; and Gaol Square, which also had zero crimes in the previous year.
The cost
THE COST of the CCTV scheme for the 2012 – 2013 period was £39, 705.46.
And it’s broken down into three payments by various stakeholders.
They are: Fermanagh District Council: £13, 235.15; Enniskillen Town Traders: £13, 070.83, and the PSNI £13, 399. 48.
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