When a man in his 90s was mugged in a park in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, several weeks ago, a combined effort by the community and gardaí resulted in an arrest and charge.
That was thanks to a CCTV system which the townspeople funded and installed themselves, according to Fianna Fáil councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice.
“The national average crime detection rate is 28 per cent, but we have over 90 per cent success here,” Mr Fitzmaurice said. “The support came in different ways, and we did it for less than €20,000.”
He said some locals offered power links for the cameras, which saved on the cost of an ESB connection.
“Our system is not monitored, but when we are contacted by the gardaí about an incident, we provide the footage, which often leads to instant results,” he said. “Where we might have had two incidents in one week, we now might have just two in a six-week period.”
The Government’s grant of €50,000 towards a pilot CCTV scheme in Co Laois seemed excessive in the light of Castlerea’s experience, Mr Fitzmaurice said. He said data protection and privacy legislation made it difficult for communities to take such initiatives now.
Where CCTV may work for a village or town, it is of “limited value” in rural areas, according to west Sligo farmer and Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Queenan.
Mr Queenan has escaped serious theft at his farm and said he was not aware of a rural crime wave in the west.
Text alert scheme
However, he said this may be due to deterrents such as a text alert scheme which the west Sligo farming community signed up to several years ago after a series of incidents in the area. Subscribers pay €5 periodically and can transmit and receive alerts, in co-operation with the Garda station in Enniscrone.
“It’s very effective,” Mr Queenan says. “It might be an unusual number plate, an unfamiliar van or a speeding car . . . Whatever it is, a text alert with a description is sent out, and then within half an hour everyone is aware and watching out.”
