From 1 April 2023, the new North Yorkshire Council replaced the borough council in Scarborough.
Objectives of the scheme
- to assist in the detection and prevention of crime
- to help provide evidential material for court proceeding for North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Council
- to deter those having criminal intent
- to reduce the fear of crime and give confidence to the public that they are in a secure environment
- to provide safer and cleaner communities
- to reduce acts of vandalism
- to assist in the prevention and detection of anti-social behaviour that would deter members of the public from using the region's facilities
- to protect property and assets owned by North Yorkshire Council and others
- to assist and help protect the Police, North Yorkshire Council staff, Street Angels, Shop Watch and Pub Watch users
- to reduce vehicle related crime in car parks
The Scarborough CCTV department monitor the public space CCTV system for Scarborough, Whitby and Filey. This scheme is funded by North Yorkshire Council.
The Scarborough CCTV department monitor the public space CCTV system for Malton, Norton and Pickering. This scheme is funded by Ryedale Cameras in Action who pay a fee to North Yorkshire Council.
The Scarborough CCTV department works in partnership with North Yorkshire Police and provides information and intelligence on a daily basis through the sharing of a CCTV Incident Database. The Scarborough CCTV department holds a TEA2 sub licence that enables CCTV operators to communicate with the North Yorkshire Police Force Control Room and individual officers.
The Scarborough CCTV department works in partnership with the Scarborough Shop Watch and Pub Watch schemes and the Whitby Pub Watch Scheme, communicating with members of all three via a dedicated radio system. The Scarborough CCTV department Senior Operator attends the meetings of all three groups to ensure that good working relationships are maintained.
The Scarborough CCTV department works with the North Yorkshire Council Scarborough, Whitby and Filey Community Impact team and provides information and intelligence on a daily basis through the sharing of a CCTV Incident Database. This information helps enable the North Yorkshire Council Community Impact team to deal with issues such as anti-social behaviour, street drinking and rough sleeping.
Management structure
- Community Safety and Safeguarding Manager
- Senior CCTV Operator
- four full time operators working 37 hours per week
- three part-time operators working 35 hours, 25 hours and 20 hours per week
Camera network
The CCTV department monitors a total of 350 public spaces and North Yorkshire Council building CCTV cameras. These are located in:
- Clock Café: 10
- Dean Road depot: 21
- Filey: 15
- Hunmanby: 6
- Kirkbymoorside: 1
- Malton: 31
- Open air theatre: 19
- Pickering: 11
- Recycling: 2
- Scarborough Borough Council Customer First: 14
- Scarborough and Eastfield: 83
- Scarborough indoor market: 26
- Scarborough Spa: 56
- Scarborough Spa bar: 5
- Scarborough Spa lift: 4
- Spa underground car park: 15
- Whitby = 31
CCTV statistics
During the period April 2022 to March 2023, the Scarborough CCTV control room dealt with:
- 5,587 incidents
- received 866 requests for footage
- provided 652 evidential copies
Most frequently occurring incidents that affect communities
- read the most frequently occurring incidents that affected communities in 2022 (xlsx / 11 KB)
- read the most frequently occurring incidents that affected communities in April 2021 to March 2022 by location (xlsx / 9 KB)
- read the most frequently occurring incidents that affected communities in April 2022 to March 2023 by location (xlsx / 9 KB)
April 2021 to March 2022 difference compared with April 2022 to March 2023
Percentage only shown for Scarborough and Whitby due to relatively low figures for other towns:
Incidents, arrests, reviews requested and evidence provided from those requests by location
- read incidents in Filey (xlsx / 9 KB)
- read incidents in Malton and Norton (xlsx / 9 KB)
- read incidents in Pickering (xlsx / 9 KB)
- read incidents in Scarborough (xlsx / 9 KB)
- read incidents in Whitby (xlsx / 9 KB)
Partnership working – statistics showing parties reporting incidents to CCTV and logged in the CCTV database
Case studies
Case study 1
North Yorkshire Police inform the CCTV Control Room of an armed robbery that had taken place at a Whitby bookmaker. CCTV operators review footage and see a male in a hat matching the description leave the premises and make off down an alley. The male is not seen leaving the alley in the time it would normally take, and a few minutes later a male leaves the alley with other pedestrians. He had changed all his clothing including a hat, apart from his shoes. The CCTV operator notices this and is able to follow his route until out of camera view and inform police of a new description. A police patrol had passed the male before the new description was passed on, they heard the new description and realised they had the suspect in view. The male was seen getting on a bus and leaving Whitby. An armed response unit stopped the bus near Redcar and the male was arrested and found in possession of the stolen money and the knife used in the robbery. He received a custodial sentence.
Case study 2
During the very busy national Armed Forces Day when thousands of people were visiting Scarborough, a vulnerable teenager had run off from his parents. The police informed the CCTV Control Room and passed on a description. CCTV operators were able to review town centre camera footage and retrace the teen's route until it was lost off camera coverage. A few hours later whilst scanning the huge crowd, the operator spotted the teenager and informed the police control. The teenager upon seeing police approach decided to run off. CCTV was able to monitor the teenager and guide police officers to his location. He was returned to his relieved parents.
Case study 3
A local store that is a member of Scarborough Shop Watch informed CCTV that a few minutes earlier two males with large shopping trolleys had stolen a large amount of clothing amounting to hundreds of pounds, no direction of travel was given. A CCTV patrol of the surrounding area saw two males matching the given description. The CCTV operator informed the police Control Room and followed the two males. When the police officers arrived the two males ditched the trolleys and tried to blend in with the crowd, one went into the casino and the other got on a bus. The CCTV operator informed officers on the ground and both males were arrested.
Case study 4
A Whitby Pub Watch member informed CCTV via their radio that a male was stopping people in the street and offering to sell various goods out of a rucksack. CCTV informed the police Control Room and followed the male back to his vehicle, the details of which were passed onto the police. When the police stopped the vehicle they found thousands of pounds worth of counterfeit goods. Two males were arrested.
Case study 5
Police control had passed out observations for a vulnerable female who was missing from home. Latest information was that the female had rung her parents to let them know she was safe and well at home. At 3:15 am the duty CCTV operator located a lone female on the Scarborough South Bay. This female did not match the description of the missing person, but the operator informed the police. Police arrive at the scene and the female ran into the sea. It was the missing female. She is rescued by a combination of police and RNLI.
Case study 6
A Whitby Pub Watch member informed CCTV that a male was assaulting a female outside their premises. The CCTV operator monitored the situation, informed the police control room and followed the couple, guiding officers to them, resulting in the male being arrested.
Camera faults and downtime
During the period April 2022 to March 2023 the whole scheme, Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, Pickering, Malton and Norton had 297 incidents of cameras not being in service due to faults and breakdowns. This resulted in 10,963 hours of downtime.
Scarborough Borough Council CCTV plans for 2023
The Scarborough Borough Council CCTV Control Room is due for a complete upgrade in March 2023.
This will include the replacement of all Vision Networks Recorders (VNRs), wall monitors, spot monitors, camera controls and furniture. This upgrade will be followed with the replacement of 17 old Scarborough analogue Pan Tilt Zoom cameras with high quality digital Pan Tilt Zoom cameras. In addition to this a number of Scarborough town centre Pan Tilt Zoom cameras will be complimented with new fixed digital cameras, providing more coverage to help with the aims of the scheme, which is to help detect and deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour and make people working, trading and visiting the town centre feel safer.
This investment in the CCTV Control Room demonstrated the commitment of Scarborough Borough Council to developing a safer community, where residents and visitors alike can enjoy the areas of the borough and beyond, whilst feeling safe.
From 1 April 2023
On 1 April 2023 Scarborough Borough Council will cease to exist, as all district councils within North Yorkshire become one, unitary North Yorkshire Council.
The Scarborough CCTV hub will become the responsibility of North Yorkshire Council; the Community Safety Manager for Scarborough, Whitby, Filey and Eastfield will hold responsibility for the service, which will fall under the Local Engagement Directorate.