Crime has doubled around a Salford street since the removal of a crucial CCTV camera, a Freedom of Information request by MM has revealed.
MM decided to investigate crime in Conchord Place after two major incidents were reported within three days of each other in the area.
One of the incidents saw an explosive device thought to be made of nails forced under the shutter of The Lounge Café on the junction of Gerald Road and Whit Lane.
The camera which covered the area was removed in 2014 by Salford City Council after it was no longer considered to be a ‘local priority.’
Despite this, an FOI to Greater Manchester Police has revealed that reported crimes in the area did in fact double after the removal of the camera, and have remained at a rise ever since.
According to the data, which listed all crimes where the address was listed as Conchord Place, there were five crimes committed in 2014/15 while that jumped to 10 crimes for 2015/16 and nine crimes in the last full year 2016/17.
The same FOI request has also revealed that from 2009 to 2010, £1.2million had been spent on CCTV equipment in the area, excluding maintenance costs.
Despite not having installed the camera, Salford City Council took over full responsibility of operations in 2009, before deciding to take it down just five years later.
Councilor David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety at Salford Council, said: “Community committees, which are made up of local residents and councilors, are given funding by Salford City Council to spend as the committee decides in their area.
“Funding for this camera was withdrawn in 2014 as it was not considered a local priority.”
At the time of the incident at The Lounge, a source confirmed to MM that crime rates in the area had noticeably increased since the removal of the camera, and that safety had started to become a real cause of concern for residents.
Just three days prior to the nail gun incident, police were called out to a scene where an industrial strength firework had been placed into the exhaust of a Vauxhall Corsa, causing the car to be destroyed.
In a statement released at the time of the crimes, Greater Manchester Police confirmed that there was a possibility that the two incidents were linked.
According to the website Streetcheck, there have been 761 crimes within one mile of Concord Place during the month of August 2017.
The site, which takes its data from policeuk also claims that of these crimes, 145 of them have been categorized as being criminal damage or arson.
