Aberdeen City Council has refused to reveal when CCTV will be installed in Union Terrace Gardens – as police tell us they want camera coverage “at the soonest”.
A £30 million refurbishment of the Victorian park in the city centre was completed at the end of 2022.
And although police have revealed there were “ongoing discussions” about CCTV throughout the planning and construction, cameras are yet to be hooked into the force’s monitoring centre at Marischal College.
A freedom of information probe by The Press And Journal has uncovered having film footage is “preferential to Police Scotland at the earliest opportunity”.
Union Terrace Gardens (UTG) has already been open for two months.
Within weeks, concerns about anti-social behaviour had been raised.
The P&J captured footage of youths fighting underneath the lighting centrepiece – known as the halo – which was hoped to boost the feeling of safety within the sunken gardens.
In the days after, police highlighted the lack of CCTV in the gardens.
They promised to continue patrolling UTG as part of their work in the city centre.
Police: CCTV of Union Terrace Garden ‘welcome at the soonest’
We have since asked Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Council to detail conversations and advice shared on security cameras.
The local authority is responsible for fitting them before they are hooked into the police’s citywide network.
Staff in the police information management unit told The P&J there is “ongoing dialogue” with the council on the installation.
“Police Scotland would welcome the addition of the CCTV coverage at the soonest,” they added.
Chiefs have “remained consistent throughout” that cameras would be “preferential”, compared to only patrolling the gardens as part of the city centre beat.
Before the £30 million revamp, a number of high profile police incidents in UTG led to calls for improved safety in the gardens.
Prior to work beginning, there were claims existing CCTV wasn’t good enough and the local authority was urged to lock the gates at night.
Council refuses to say when CCTV will be fitted in camera-less UTG in fear of helping criminals
Now, Aberdeen City Council is refusing to tell the public when cameras will be installed – in case the news encouraged crime.
Responding to a P&J freedom of information request, local officials argued that “disclosing any indication of when CCTV will be installed would enable any persons interested in committing a crime or theft or damage to identify accurately when to do this.”
An access to information officer warned specific details being made public could “impact on crime prevention and any subsequent police investigations”.
She added it would “likely prejudice substantially the prevention or detection of crime”.
Claims: Shared council and police Aberdeen HQ means there is no email trail
The city council was also asked when police had pressed for CCTV to be put in place.
However, the “integrated” North East Division and council headquarters at Marischal College left officials unable to provide an answer to that either.
Referencing “continuous consultation”, the access to information officer added: “Working in the same shared space means day-to-day operations and projects like this are continually being worked on jointly, without much need for formal capture [written, dated, correspondence].”
Despite Aberdeen City Council being responsible for fitting the cameras, a city spokeswoman declined to comment.
“It is an operational matter for police,” she said.
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