As the debate heats up over York's troubled CCTV network, council leader Steve Galloway last night launched an outspoken attack on the Evening Press's reporting of flaws in the system - coverage which is defended here by editor Kevin Booth.

LET me make it clear that we take the safety of those in our city very seriously.

"Safe City" remains one of our top two priorities for the council.

The extension of CCTV coverage, and the move to 24-hour monitoring which we have introduced, has played a significant part in the reduction that we have seen in crime levels in the city over the last 12 months.

For example, thefts of (and from) vehicles parked in the city centre have dropped by around 40 per cent over recent months.

Although there have been some arrests as a result of CCTV operators identifying either suspicious behaviour or actual crimes being committed, the main benefit of having the cameras is one of deterrence.

Criminals know that their activities may be monitored. Recordings are also made which can be used to help to identify those guilty of criminal behaviour and in preparing court cases.

If criminals believe that they are less likely to be monitored, then there is an increased possibility of them committing a crime.

It was legitimate for the Yorkshire Evening Press, from a public interest viewpoint, to highlight what, in their opinion, appeared to be an exceptionally high level of camera faults during December.

By the time that the article appeared, many of the faults had in fact been repaired but responsible council officers, and the contractor who repairs the equipment, have been told very clearly that the position that had developed was unacceptable.

However, I believe that the editor of the Evening Press was irresponsible in publishing details of the individual cameras which he believed were faulty and indeed in giving the locations of all CCTV units.

This could have given criminals a false sense of security and could have resulted in an increase in street crime.

Both the council's chief executive and the local police commander asked the editor not to publish this level of detail - but he did so anyway.

It is difficult to think of an action which would reduce our confidence in the judgement of the Evening Press editor more than this incident

TWELVE days ago we exposed the shocking state of York's CCTV system. It was a story we felt you had a right to know.

Our inquiries prompted a flurry of repair work on the city's street cameras, more than a third of which were malfunctioning.

Today, we are happy to report that all are fully operational. There is no doubt in our mind that by highlighting this issue, the Evening Press provoked this urgent action.

But in so doing, we also provoked the leader of the city council who last night rounded on this newspaper with a censure that accused us of "irresponsibility".

Councillor Steve Galloway said the council took very seriously the safety of those in our city. We too share that concern for the community we serve.

He acknowledges that there was a public interest in us revealing the terrible extent of defects afflicting the CCTV network, but believes we were wrong to disclose details and locations of individual cameras.

His argument is built on the assumption that we gave criminals "a false sense of security which could have resulted in an increase in crime". It didn't.

We contend that it was the people of York who were under a sense of false security because they wrongly believed the cameras were watching over their safety. They weren't.

We felt a duty to let our readers know just where the cameras were blind and people were vulnerable.

When handling delicate or sensitive information, newspapers have to make difficult decisions every day. In this instance, as all others, we did not take it lightly. But we stand by it.

We published and, just as our editorial comment of the day predicted, in some quarters we are now damned. So be it.

Wireless CCTV may be latest weapon

WIRELESS CCTV cameras could be the latest weapon in the York's war against crime - with Royal Ascot being touted as the guinea pig for new eyes in the sky.

The revelation follows an Evening Press investigation which highlighted concerns that more than a third of York's ageing CCTV cameras were out of order. City of York Council confirmed today that all the cameras were now operational.

The Press has learned that talks have been held between the city's crimefighters about boosting York's network with up to five wireless security cameras.

Safer York Partnership director Jane Mowat said: "We are well aware the current system is up to capacity without significant investment. City centre violence is a key priority and CCTV has a good chance of helping us. We need a robust system, particularly one that gives a very clear image at night.

"Wireless systems would enable us to focus on particular areas where we have a lot of nuisance anti-social behaviour."

She said one idea was to trial the cameras during Royal Ascot week, focusing on car parks, to check the quality of the system and the images produced.

"Ideally we would probably like to purchase about four or five cameras."

Home Office funding would be needed for the equipment which combines new mobile telecommunications and CCTV technology.

York-based Wireless CCTV charges around £32,000 for four wireless systems including installation, accessories such as hard drives for storing evidence, and training for operators. In comparison, four fixed cameras which require underground cables cost about £100,000.

Cameras can be moved around and deliver live images to a PC, laptop or monitoring station via mobile phone or broadband.

City of York Council confirmed the idea of "relocatable" CCTV was being considered.

Updated: 10:37 Wednesday, January 26, 2005