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FIFE Constabulary's eagle-eyed CCTV operators once more proved how important their skills can be when they helped find a vulnerable 86-year-old man at the weekend. The pensioner, who suffers from alzheimers, had gone missing from Kirkcaldy where he lives. Every effort by local police officers to trace him had proved unsuccessful. They turned to the CCTV suite, which monitors 12 of Fife's communities round the clock, to check outlying areas. The man was eventually spotted by one of the operators in Burntisland and returned home six hours later safe and well. CCTV Coordinator Mark Waterfall said: "This incident once again proves the worth of the cameras in both helping to detect and deter crime and protect vulnerable people. "They have the advantage of monitoring an area 24 hours, seven days a week quickly alerting police officers to any problems in an area and allowing them to take action." August was one of the busiest months for the CCTV operators since the Fifewide system - jointly funded by the force and Fife's Community Safety Partnership - was launched six years ago. Of 215 incidents filmed on CCTV in town centres, almost half were spotted by the operators themselves. 122 pieces of footage were reviewed - using the recently introduced digital CCTV system. Forty three per cent of the footage resulted in sufficient evidence to bring charges against the individuals concerned. |
