A safe place for workers

Nov 20 2007 By The Journal

POLICING an area some two miles long and one mile wide, with 700 business properties, a daily population of 18,000 people and 12,000 vehicles, is a mammoth task for anyone to carry out effectively.

In the early 1990s, when crime was becoming unacceptably high and affecting business confidence, a meeting between the police, businesses, Gateshead Council and the NECC decided that the level of crime on the Estate had to be addressed.

The local police force simply didn’t have the resources to cope with round the clock patrols and surveillance, and the size of the area meant that private security guard patrols were not feasible due to the prohibitive cost of staffing such a sizeable force.

It was decided that the most efficient, cost effective solution had to be a CCTV system monitored locally, and from this emerged the Valley Watch initiative. A limited company was formed in June 1996 and the CCTV system has been operational since May 1997.

The Valley Watch initiative has made a real difference to the Team Valley Trading Estate. In the first nine months after the scheme began, general crime was reduced by 79% and burglaries by 84%. Over the last 11 years the crime rate has remained at a low level and commercial confidence has been boosted to such a degree that a large amount of redevelopment has taken place.

Valley Watch also takes a role in combating shop theft in Retail World. Shoplifters believe that once out of the shop they are free and clear, but the Valley Watch surveillance team can follow the culprits to their car and pass information to the police to assist in follow-up action.

The cameras are only as good as the people who operate them, and the Valley Watch surveillance teams are the key to the success of the operation. Pro-actively monitoring the Estate 24 hours a day, they decipher patterns that emerge and have developed an innate understanding of human behaviour. Valley Watch aims to anticipate and stop would-be felons before a crime takes place.

The use of high quality recording equipment provides the police with evidence for prosecutions, whilst new technology is incorporated into the system if it provides a better service to Valley Watch members.

Working around the clock, a highly visible mobile patrol unit is in constant communication with the surveillance team. This enables a rapid response to any incident spotted by the camera operators.

Valley Watch is integral to the success of the business community and provides additional services such as key holding, alarm monitoring and response, lone worker health and safety services, crime prevention advice and remote CCTV monitoring.

The cost effective, responsive service provided by Valley Watch’s CCTV solution delivers on many levels, from curbing crime, reducing vandalism and lowering insurance premiums to attracting new business to the area and enabling better use of police time and resources. In essence, the solution makes Team Valley a safer and better place to work.