Did you know that the borough is protected by a 650-camera CCTV system? The borough’s network has been upgraded by the council and now helps police and enforcement officers deal with three times as many incidents as before.

You may have noticed changes to cameras around the borough, particularly in town centres, and this is thanks to a £2.5million upgrade carried out since 2016 to provide CCTV using the latest technology.

It has dramatically enhanced what it can do – with vastly improved coverage, and better links into police systems.

The borough’s control room in Perceval House in Ealing operates 24/7 and is one of the most advanced in the UK, providing support to emergency services at crucial times. The team monitored around 11,000 incidents in 2018 compared to 3000 in 2012.

Thanks to the upgrade, it now has improved camera positions to allow for better views and the majority of the cameras in our town cameras also now use high definition (HD), providing four times the quality of standard images.

It allows officers to monitor, track, review and release images of potential incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour to police and council enforcement teams – alerting police to crime incidents, gathering evidence, and even catching people red-handed while fly-tipping.

Ealing’s CCTV footage has long been a source for evidence in police investigations. It was used in the search for a man who lost his life in 2015 after disappearing following a journey from Ealing to Manchester. Known as the ‘Body on the Moor’ case, the search used Ealing’s CCTV to track the man entering Ealing Broadway Station.

The CCTV service also works closely with ward forums and local councillors about how to best monitor crime and making sure ‘hotspots’ are monitored.

‘It helps us catch criminals…’

Borough commander Paul Martin said: “Why wouldn’t you want CCTV? Especially the HD cameras the council is operating now. The team there can inform us of illegal activity while its happening and feed us footage while we send officers to the scene, and it can record evidence in incredible detail. It helps us catch criminals and also improves the chances of conviction in court because they are caught in the act on HD footage.”

Councillor Joanna Camadoo, the council’s cabinet member for inclusion and community safety, said: “Making the upgrades to the borough’s CCTV system has put Ealing at the forefront of crime detection. Providing high quality video to council services and police to tackle crime within the borough has proven valuable in keeping our residents safe.”