CCTV is back in action at Ploërmel (Morbihan). The prefect authorized the deployment of 21 cameras in the town centre of the commune of 10,000 inhabitants.
End of the suspense in Ploërmel (Morbihan). After three years of legal battle, the municipality will switch on 21 CCTV cameras. “We got the green light from the prefect last July,” confirms the Mayor immediately, Patrick Le Diffon.
The elected official, who has never hidden his wish to use it to “deter criminals”, sees it as “a complementary tool to the actions of the municipal police and the gendarmerie. For him, it’s a question of “public safety. ” And that’s all.
Judicial battle
It must be said that the case made a noise. Installed in 2005, the video surveillance device has been making waves since 2016, when the city council of the time decided to revise its system. From 21, the city has grown to 40 cameras deployed on 24 sites.
No taste of the collective “Ploërmel without video” that had brought the case before the courts . The reason ? A disproportionate number of cameras. His request had found favour with the court of Rennes who ordered the cessation of CCTV.
21 CCTV cameras deployed on 11 sites
Resolved on appeal in Nantes on October 16, 2018, the elected officials decided to review their copy by reducing the number of cameras to 21. As the number of sites under surveillance to 11.
“The commission has validated the new video-protection plan unanimously. “
Why were the cameras not put back into service this summer?
“We had technical requirements. It is only a matter of days, the cameras will be operational, at the latest, on September 13th. “
Prevention
In the face of detractors who still grind their teeth, Patrick Le Diffon defends the preventive dimension of the system:
“The cameras are not set up to spy on the citizens, no agent is commissioned to watch the live images. They will only be viewed in the event of an infraction. “
It remains to be seen whether the number of crimes recorded in Ploërmel will decline in the coming months …
