AS THE Chronicle launches its campaign to make people think about the consequences of their actions, Baroness Helen Newlove, who has firsthand experience of the devastating consequences of alcohol-fuelled violence, visited Chelmsford last week.
Helen lost her husband Garry in 2007 after a gang of drunk and drugged youths attacked him outside their home in Warrington. She has since dedicated her life to campaigning against antisocial behaviour and was given a peerage in 2010. She now sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative.
Last Wednesday she made the trip to Chelmsford to visit the team at the CCTV control room at the Civic Centre in Duke Street, where Spencer Clarke gave her a tour of their facilities.
The team works 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to monitor the 45 screens on the wall which, in 2011, resulted in 445 arrests around the Chelmsford, Witham and South Woodham Ferrers areas.
"The purpose of the visit was to see how we are spending the active and safer communities funding that we were given," said Spencer.
It was as a result of one of Baroness Newlove's Government reports that the council received £45,000 to work on improving antisocial behaviour in the city. The same amount will be received again next year.
She was given a tour of the high-tech CCTV bunker as well as being shown the new custody suite at Chelmsford police station, where Spencer and his team carry out a lot of their work.
"She and her team were very impressed," said Spencer. "They said they are looking forward to coming back next year."
