CCTV helps to solve one in 1000 crimes

Just one crime is solved a year by every 1,000 CCTV cameras in Britain's largest force area, it was claimed yesterday.

A senior Scotland Yard officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, warned police must do more to head off a crisis in public confidence over the use of surveillance cameras. DCI Neville said officers need to improve their results to make captured images count against criminals.

He said there are more than a million CCTV cameras in London and the Government has spent £500 million on the crime-fighting equipment. But he admitted just 1,000 crimes were solved in 2008 using CCTV images as officers fail to make the most of potentially vital evidence.



Writing in an internal report, Mr Neville said people are filmed many times every day and have high expectations when they become victims of crime.

But he suggested the reality is often disappointing as in some cases officers fail to bring criminals to justice even after they are caught on camera and identified. DCI Neville said CCTV played a role in capturing just eight out of 269 suspected robbers across London in one month.

Critics of Britain's so-called ''surveillance state'' will seize on DCI Neville's comments as further evidence CCTV is not working in the fight against crime.