GFSB CALLS FOR INTRODUCTION OF CCTV PROTECTION
19-Aug-2011The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses has expressed concern at the recurrence of yet another crime in which shop traders are specifically targeted as being ‘soft’ or ‘easy’.
“This follows from an unwelcome trend which has developed locally against the backdrop of two other high-profile armed burglaries against local businesses within the last 6 months alone,” said GFSB chairm Stuart Rodriguez.
The federation says that business owners feel under more threat now than ever before as it is felt that the potential impact of the downward economic cycle from other countries is finally rearing its ugly head locally. The Board of the GFSB states it has actively campaigned for a number of years for the introduction of CCTV in all the principal business areas in Gibraltar to protect these vulnerable businesses from further targeted attacks against their property and also the individuals running the business.
“We would like to ask the general public whether they think that these crimes against these businesses would have occurred if an independent CCTV system had been in place as is prevalent in most shopping areas around the world?”
The use of CCTV managed by an independent administrator with strict protocol guidelines to prevent abuse of the material is the biggest most single deterrent to any erstwhile criminal who sees Gibraltar business as a soft touch, says the federation.
“How the introduction of this CCTV could be against the wider public interest is a question that should be put to the victims of these crimes. The amount of funds potentially saved in policing and criminal process bureaucracy would make the system pay for itself. It would also bring in a deterrent factor and protection to tax-paying businesses which is not currently present at the moment.”
The GFSB is calling on the relevant authorities to vigourously pursue looking into this CCTV option seriously in order to stem the alarming and rising level of crime against businesses and individuals in our community.
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