Ballina to get 22-camera CCTV system

Sergeant confident CCTV will make Ballina a safer place


Ciara Galvin
ciaragalvin@mayonews.ie

“People will feel Ballina is a safer town to live in.” That was the view of Sergeant Amanda Gaynor of Ballina Garda Station as she made presentation on the community based CCTV scheme to Ballina Town Council last week.
Sergeant Gaynor said years of dedication and setbacks have been worth it and gave a detailed presentation about the 22 camera scheme to the Council. The Council heard that the system will be linked up to screens in the Garda Station which will allow Gardaí to review incidents, enlarge images and even pan, tilt and zoom some of the cameras around the town.
Some benefits of the scheme outlined were an increasing confidence among business owners, a feeling of safety, assisting community alert groups and developing a safer tourism environment. Sgt Gaynor explained the benefits the system will have in assisting Gardaí in Ballina with namely missing persons incidents, monitoring drug activity, identification of suspects and the ability to use footage as evidence in court. “The benefits to Gardaí are never ending,” said Sgt Gaynor.
Currently 18 of the 22 cameras are up and running in the town with cameras located and entry and exit points of the town, on all major streets, along the Moy river, in a number of car parks and in two residential areas.
Outgoing Ballina Superintendent Pat McHugh assured the meeting that as more resources become available, more cameras could be added to the system. Expressing her approval of the scheme, Councillor Mary Kelly said the system ‘exceeds what I expected’ and said she was ‘amazed at the quality of the cameras’.  
Cllr Barry McLoughlin praised fellow councillors, Cllr Johnny O’Malley and Mark Winters for ‘going beyond the call of duty’ for the CCTV scheme. Cllr Winters stated that the system would allow Gardaí to condense a month of investigations into two hours using the system, resulting in cases being brought before the courts quicker. “It’s a tool that will be used swiftly and the system has loads of room for expansion,” stated Cllr Winters.
Reassuring the Council, Sgt Gaynor stated that the system would not be replacing Gardaí on the beat. Town Manager Paul Benson concluded that although the project had gone on for many years, councillors aided in funding towards the €150,000 cost of the scheme. Mr Benson added that the maintenance of the scheme will cost €10,000 annually and would have to be found.

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