A key crime-fighting tool which provides city centre businesses with intelligence on criminals has totally broken down due to Police Scotland cuts, it has been claimed.
The DUNCAN (Dundee Co-ordinated Anti-crime Network) scheme is supposed to provide retailers, pubs and clubs with CCTV stills of known troublemakers, a monthly bulletin of intelligence and for those shops which have signed up, a radio link with other premises and the police.
However, The Courier has learned the liaison officer role which coordinates intelligence between police and the scheme has been scrapped.
And those familiar with events say the once trumpeted scheme which has hundreds of members and has enjoyed great success in tackling anti-social behaviour since its inception in 2003 is now on the verge of collapse.
The revelations follow an exclusive report by The Courier revealing the specialist CCTV monitoring suite at Tayside headquarters which is advertised as a 24/7, 365-day role had been left unmanned.
Pete Harvey of Dj vu nightclub, a member of DUNCAN, said: “Every member of DUNCAN has been affected by these problems.
“The last two weeks there has been no specialist CCTV cover on at night. This is just unacceptable for a busy city centre such as Dundee.
“They claim it is because of a lack of trained staff but I just don’t understand that. There are plenty of security staff who are trained to operate CCTV. There is an abundance of people who could do it.
“There is no excuse and it is putting the public at risk.”
It is understood this is now a common occurrence and licensees have expressed their concern.
And another DUNCAN member, who did not wish to identified, said a lack of CCTV cover was just the tip of the iceberg.
“This is very serious,” the member said. “We pay for information but since Police Scotland cut our liaison in March we have had no intelligence.
“For instance, before March you might get a call saying a known shoplifter Joe Bloggs is in town and on his way to the Overgate. But without anyone to share the intelligence, that has stopped happening.
“Members pay for a monthly meeting with a bulletin, identifying troublemakers and their status and sharing intelligence.
“We have had to cancel these monthly meetings because there is now no information to share. We tried to have one in May but there was such little intelligence it just was not worthwhile.
“It is not just about the night-time economy but about all forms of anti-social behaviour.
“Shops often use stills from the CCTV monitoring to identify shoplifters but nothing’s coming to us any more from the police.”
The DUNCAN member continued: “It has been going on for ages. This system is essential for tackling anti-social behaviour and crime in the city centre. It is very serious.
“Police are supposed to have someone take over his responsibilities. This just has not happened.”
Founded in 2003, DUNCAN includes more than 170 retailers and 37 pubs and clubs in Dundee and is supported by, among others, Dundee City Council.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Police Scotland and Dundee City Council manage the DUNCAN scheme jointly through a service level agreement.
“This service level agreement includes the provision of relevant data for the DUNCAN scheme.”
They also insisted city centre CCTV is “monitored”, although accepted the specialist suite is not always occupied.