Inside a discreet room at Wirral Council, the fight against antiosocial behaviour is taking place.
The room is where the local authority manages a network of 140 cameras and 28 help points across the Wirral with a direct line to help support police services.
On a wall, ten screens show footage in real time from busy junctions to high streets and staff are able to manually operate the cameras including focusing in on developing situations.
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The help points were installed at the beginning of March to help prevent serious violence, particularly against women and girls, as well as tackle issues like antisocial behaviour and improve community safety.
Since then they have been used 300 times though a large majority of these have malicious pranks according to Wirral Council. The number of genuine calls is expected to increase as awareness of the scheme grows.
The help points were installed in busy areas like Birkenhead, New Brighton, and West Kirby below a CCTV camera. If pressed by someone, the camera automatically connects to the control room and surveys the area.
Someone in trouble will be able to get advice directly from a member of staff who is monitoring the situation through the cameras. Other cameras in the area can also be used to look at what is going on in the vicinity and staff can contact emergency services if needed.
According to Wirral Council, these are examples of where someone may wish to use the help points.
- They need 999 assistance from an ambulance, fire service, police or coastguard.
- Report a missing child or person
- To report a crime or incident of anti-social behaviour they are witnessing
- Need help dealing with a vulnerable person due to age, physical health, mental health etc.
- Have suffered violence or feel at risk of violence
- Worried about their own or someone else’s safety.
However the CCTV service has also been helpful in tackling wider issues such as antisocial behaviour including being able to identify potential suspects or protecting vulnerable people including those at risk of suicide, according to the local authority.
The help points have been placed in areas with higher footfall, where bars and clubs are open late, or transport hubs with funding coming from Safer Streets funding as well as the Wirral Community Safety and Merseyside Violence Reduction partnerships.
So far, more than a million pounds has gone into improving the network and it is hoped that the network of help points could expand across Wirral if funding is available.
When the help points launched in March, Cllr Helen Cameron, Chair of Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, previously said: “These help points could literally provide a lifeline for someone who finds themselves in difficulty or feeling threatened on our streets for whatever reason.
“Linking directly to the CCTV control centre, an operator there can talk to them directly, provide reassurance and arrange for them to be assisted by emergency services or other partner agencies if necessary.”
At a council meeting in March, worries the help points might be vandalised were raised given targeting of emergency defibrillators but officers said there had not been any cases of vandalism against the help points so far.
A map of all the help points across the Wirral can be found here.
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