Chris Cooke, Labour council candidate in Queen’s Park, has called on Sussex Police to install CCTV at the site of the Aids memorial in New Steine after it was vandalised for a second time at the weekend.
Cooke, who previously chaired the St James’s Street Action team, says the area has become a ‘hot spot’ for anti-social behaviour and has written to chief superintendent Graham Bartlett to request the installation of CCTV.
He said: “This particular area including that stretch of St James’s Street has become a ‘hot spot’ for anti social behaviour of late and I am hoping that the introduction of a camera covering not only the garden but also St James’s itself will act as a deterrent to prevent this kind of behaviour.
Chris Cooke believes businesses that are successful in being granted alcohol licences in the area should fund the future installation of CCTV as a condition.
He explained: “Companies such as Sainsburys and the Co-op have very deep pockets and there is absolutely no reason why as part of the licence granting process (should they be successful) that they pay for cctv to be installed in the streets around their premises, and pay for their operational costs too. I think this idea should be taken forward as soon as possible to tackle the anti-social problems that blight some neighbourhoods including St.James’s street.”