POLICE are celebrating a string of successes brought about by the extensive uses of closed-circuit television cameras in towns and villages in the Northumbria force area.
Substantial reductions in crime and disorder are being reported from those areas with full coverage.
In other areas, where the systems are not so far advanced, results are so encouraging that efforts are being made to upgrade the network.
In Newcastle Centre Area Command, overall crime stood at 6,869 incidents in 1992 - before cameras were installed. Seven years later, that figure fell to 2,072 and, by last year, was down to 1,970.
It is estimated that CCTV footage saved an equivalent of 3,360 hours of detective work.
The parts of Newcastle East Area Command which are covered by cameras have reported a 15 per cent drop in vehicle crime, and ten per cent fewer incidents of criminal damage.
In Newcastle West, nearly 370 arrests last year were attributed to the use of CCTV footage, while 187 arrests were attributed to CCTV in Gateshead East.
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