Talking CCTV cameras have been installed at two Norwich parks with the aim of slashing anti-social behaviour.
Eight cameras at Waterloo Park and one at Eaton Park have been connected to their own loudspeaker system and, through Norwich City Council's 33-screen, £500,000 CCTV control room, the voice of a camera operator will boom out across each park to tell off those causing a nuisance, committing low level crime and anti-social behaviour.
Norwich City Councillor Bert Bremner, responsible for community safety and cohesion, said: “It is a really positive thing for the city.
“Waterloo Park has had its problems with attacks, graffiti and arson, especially at night-time, and we want to leave these places open for people to enjoy all the time.
“These will be ways of embarrassing people and reminding them. Someone being told off for dropping litter will respond in a reasonable way, and I believe most people will say sorry and do something about it. There will be some that won't and, if the matter is serious, the police will follow it up.”
The council, which used a £35,000 grant to pay for the installation of the high-tech talking system, is one of 20 areas to receive funding for the project ran in partnership with the government's Respect Unit.
Six full-time operators man the cameras 24 hours a day and there is a direct communication link between the police and the CCTV control room.
The talking cameras have been in operation for three months already and have been used by police on two occasions, including the theft of a woman's handbag.
“We want CCTV because it means people will use their parks and aren't frightened to be there,” added Mr Bremner. “People are asking for it. We have surveyed the whole city and the response is incredibly positive.
“We are not in a police state, we are in a democracy and people understand we are doing it for their safety. This will help make these places safe.”
Although critics have likened the new talking system to the nightmare vision of the future George Orwell wrote about in his novel 1984, many people believe the advantages are worth it.
The council's operations manager Gwyn Jenson said: “We have had some teething troubles, but that is because the system we are using is innovative and hasn't been used anywhere else in the country.
“We are looking at the usage of the system and if it is a success, we'll look at expanding it further. But we think it is going to be successful and, if so, we will be looking to add the system to our other cameras across the city.”
The council ran a poster competition with the city's schools to mark the launch and 12-year-old Hollie Rayfield-Brown from Colman Junior School came up with the winning design which will be placed at cameras in each park.
Hollie was also given the chance to sit in Big Brother's chair and issue a telling off to a staged littering incident in Waterloo Park from the CCTV control room.
Hollie said: “The poster took me about three lessons and I chose litter because if everyone dropped litter the world would be really messy.
“I would wonder where the voice was coming from, but I think it's good because it makes people think twice about what they're doing.”
Visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk to see how the cameras work.
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