Police have been asked to explain why the specialist CCTV suite at their HQ in Dundee has been left unmanned during crucial periods.
Politicians and publicans joined forces as concern grows that a crucial city centre crime-fighting tool, DUNCAN (Dundee Co-ordinated Anti-crimeNetwork), is being damaged by cuts.
And some believe drunken hooligans are being given free rein in the city as a result.
On Wednesday, we revealedDUNCAN (the Dundee Co-ordinated Anti-crime Network) could have been irreparably damaged after police scrapped a liaison role between the force and the scheme.The specialist police CCTV suite, which is advertised as a 24/7, 365-day role, and is key to the implantation of DUNCAN, is also regularly left unmanned, The Courier has learned.John Pearson, who handles security at a number of Dundee nightspots, branded the situation “a nightmare” and demanded answers.
He said: “These thugs know the system doesn’t work the way it should and they can do pretty much anything they want.There is no doubt that city centre safety is being damaged.
“I am working in the town centre every weekend night and I have definitely seen more trouble on these last few weekends than usual.They (the police) have the resources it is just nonsense.
“They claim they do not have enough trained people but there are tons of people about who can do it.”
He continued: “We used to have a monthly meeting in the city square and the police would set up a projectorshowing images of troublemakers. All our staff would then know what they look like.
“But that has not happened for months. We have lost all that intelligence, as well as specialist CCTV coverage at night, which, of course, is the worst time. It is a nightmare, there has been no end of problems.
“We used to be able to warn each other if we had thrown out people so that they couldn’t get in anywhere else.Now we have countless problems of troublemakers being let in after being thrown out elsewhere.
“It is a great system when it works,” he added.
The DUNCAN scheme is supposed to provide pubs and clubs with CCTV stills of known troublemakers, a monthlybulletin of intelligence and, for those bars which have signed up, a radio link with other premises and the police.
Members of the scheme pay severalhundred pounds a year to be part of the radio network and a smaller fee to receive access to the bulletins.
It is run jointly between Police Scotland and Dundee City Council and, since its much trumpeted launch in 2003, is widely regarded as having been successful attackling anti-social behaviour in the city centre.
Dundee University Students Association president Iain MacKinnon said that while the union had been quiet recently, he was concerned the situation could deteriorate.
“We are members of DUNCAN and have found the system effective, although we have been quite quiet recently.We would obviously be very concerned with any cuts that could have a detrimental effect on the scheme.”Questions go unansweredPolice Scotland refused to answer questions put to them by The Courier regarding DUNCAN.
No comment was offered on any changes in police policy to help cover the role of liaison officer, which was left vacant after recent budget cuts to Police Scotland.
When questioned about the use of CCTV and DUNCAN over the last weekend, the police offered no response and suggested the information would only be available via a freedom of information request.
To establish the level of crime in the past week, The Courier asked thefollowing:How many incidents were there between 5pm on Friday and midnight on Sunday last week in the DD1 postcode area? How many of these incidents were investigated using CCTV? How many times between Friday and Sunday were members of DUNCAN alerted to incidents? How many police officers were on the beat in that period?A spokesman for the force responded: “Questions would be considered via an FOI inquiry. They are very specific and would require a level of research to answer.
“For operationalreasons it would beinappropriate tocomment on the allocation of specific resources.”
When previously questioned, Police Scotland said: “The CCTV facilities at divisional headquarters are managed and monitored by suitably trained staff and officers around the clock.”
The spokesman added there is “no risk to the public”.
DUNCAN is jointly run by Dundee City Council and Police Scotland.
City development convener Will Dawson said: “The council and Police Scotland are working hard on the further development of the long-running DUNCAN schemethe council and PoliceScotland are committed to playing an active role in helping keep people safe in the city centre.”DUNCAN ‘works’ for retailersWhile the city’s nightlife is said to be at risk from Police Scotland cuts, a different picture is painted by those who trade in the city during the day.
In daylight hours DUNCAN can be used to alert shops to and catch shoplifters, while at night it helps track down people who carry out serious crimes, including assaults, and helps keep revellerssafe.
During our investigations both the Wellgate and Overgate shopping centres reported that their experience of DUNCAN was that it performed well.
“We haven’t had any severe operational issues” reported Jon Walton, manager of the Wellgate centre.
Craig Bones, head of security at the Overgate centre, said: “From our side, it’s a system that works.”
However, he added: “Perhaps the flaws in the system haven’t caught up to us yet.”
Both large retail groups in the city reported that radio service continued,as did monthlyreports supposed to highlight serialtroublemakers.
Monthly meetings also continue to allow partners in the schemeto share information.
“We have monthly meetings to see how we can further improve the system” added Mr Bones.“Three months ago we had a meeting with a senior Police Scotland figure to assure us of a smooth handover from Tayside… it was all very positive.”