Fifteen new hi-tech cameras are going up around Birmingham and Wolverhampton as police focus on making our communities safer.

Costing almost £100,000, the 4G cameras are being installed this month in areas where there are concerns about youth violence and knife crime. Five will be installed in Wolverhampton and a further 10 across Birmingham, including two in the busy Soho Road area. 

They will join an existing dozen cameras which have already been dotted around the our region for the last seven years. 

These new generation cameras react to movement and are clever enough to track whoever is moving, giving officers better information and supporting them in spotting more crimes. Sgt Nick Giess from Birmingham Partnerships, said:

“The existing cameras have proved really popular with the communities they are serving and these new ones will help us cover more areas, more of the time.

“Not only do they help us identify crimes and criminals, they also help us focus where to send out extra patrols or when to reassure communities through our Neighbourhood Watch and Street Watch supporters."

Funding for the two-year project has come from Project Guardian, a campaign to steer youngsters away from knife crime. You can find out more about tackling knife crime at west-midlands.police.uk.