CCTV for Newtown and Welshpool

State of the art HD CCTV cameras with 25x optical zoom and 360 degrees turning capability, now cover the towns with 123 cameras monitored from a centralised monitoring suite.

More towns including Welshpool have been identified for CCTV reinvestment.

Mr Llywelyn said: “I am really pleased that the CCTV project has come to fruition and is now entering its final stages.

"I am very grateful to see the force responding to the pledge I made to reintroduce a CCTV infrastructure in the Dyfed-Powys Police force area: To deliver this project has taken a lot of effort from lots of different people."

Camera locations were identified by listening to community concerns matched with a review of crime pattern analysis. This included analysing the towns’ crime data, the number of emergency and non-emergency calls for police service received, the level of reported anti-social behaviour and hate crime incidents.

The cameras, installed by Baydale Control Systems Ltd and supplied by Hikvision UK & Ireland are monitored by a team of four CCTV Operators overseen by a CCTV Coordinator.

Prevention

Police say CCTV footage has already proven crucial evidence in police investigations including an incident when a man was knocked unconscious with a single punch to the head in Llanelli to a young man in Newtown captured on CCTV smashing a shop window walking through the town on a night out. He was identified from the CCTV. He had no recollection of the incident as he was under the influence of alcohol. He apologised to the shopkeeper and paid for a new window.

"As well as helping in the prevention and detection of crime, CCTV is assisting with the protection of vulnerable people in the force," said Mark Collins.

"Operators assist with searching for missing people and people in mental distress. There are clear examples of how vulnerable people have been swiftly reunited with their loved ones thanks to CCTV acting as an extra set of eyes covering a much larger area on camera than officers could on foot in the same length of time.

"All we want to do is reunite them with their families and ensure they don’t come to any harm. CCTV is having a significant impact in this area, finding missing people, locating people who are threatening to harm themselves and bringing matters to a positive conclusion.

"The new infrastructure and the monitoring team are an invaluable tool that we are already making good use of within the force.”