The manager of an award-winning Bexley safety partnership has slammed council plans to stop monitoring CCTV cameras that helped catch a knife-wielding murderer.
As part of £37m of necessary cuts the council have proposed to hand responsibility for security cameras over to police.
The proposal, published on Bexley Council's website on July 29, says: "Some active police monitoring would be introduced and active monitoring by the council would cease."
Manager of Bexley Town Safe, Chrissie Gonzalez, has branded plans as “ludicrous".
Bexley Town Safe picked up a Safer Business Award (SBA) from Action Against Business Crime (AABC) in a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel, Bexleyheath
Chrissie Gonzalaz with an award for work keeping Bexley safe
She said: "Bexley is one of the safest boroughs and CCTV is crucial in keeping it that way.
"It's important for victims of crime to have that, and it's important to people on the streets to feel safe.
"With Britain now on severe terror alert, cameras are vital in monitoring what is going on."
"It's ludicrous really."
The safety manager credits security cameras with helping police quickly catch convicted killer, Nicola Edgington, following the murder of 58-year-old Sally Hodkin.
Mrs Hodkin was killed with a meat cleaver in Bexleyheath Broadway in October 2011.
She added: “Police were able to locate Nicola Edgington thanks to those CCTVs cameras, there is no way she would have been caught that quickly without them.”
An outraged Welling resident, who asked to be named only as Pat, added: "During the riots across London and many other cities in 2011, it was the CCTV footage that brought the looters and arsonists to justice.
"Without the cameras these villains would have escaped justice.
"The same thing could easily happen in Bexley Borough."
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If passed, proposals are likely to save the council £225,000 a year until 2020.
A spokesman for the council said: "As no decisions have been taken at all and the consultation period runs till the autumn it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage, other than to encourage people to set out their views on this and all the other budget saving proposals."
Residents can have their say by completing an online survey by September 18.
What do you think? Send your views to fiona.simpson@london.newsquest.co.uk or call 01689 885734
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