Officials with one of London’s largest cemeteries are confident newly installed surveillance cameras will help improve security on the property.
Woodland Cemetery manager Paul Culliton said he had already budgeted for the cameras when he received a report this past May that two men in a vehicle stole a newborn baby deer from the cemetery grounds.
Culliton told AM980 the cameras, which have night vision capabilities, will help deter vandalism and monitor all traffic going in and out.
“The first thing the police will say is ‘did you get (licence) plates’ and ‘do you have a description of the car?'” he said. “We did not have either of that but we knew that if we put these security cameras up on the front gates, for the overall safety of the cemetery, that that would accomplish that.”
In addition to the cameras, Culliton said they also rely on their neighbours to help report any suspicious activity.
“These things are crimes of opportunity and people are going to do things or they’re going to come on to the property because they think they can get away with it, but if they know as they’re coming into the gate and that they see a security camera and they see a sign that says that it’s under surveillance, then that’s going to give them some kind of pause in their thought that maybe this isn’t a good idea for them,” he said.
Over the years, Woodland has become home to many families of deer and other wildlife. Culliton notes that they don’t mind families coming to the cemetery specifically to watch the wildlife as long as they’re respectful of the property, and those visiting loved ones.
“We don’t have a problem with that, people coming in and looking,” he said. “If we’re there at night, and there’s 10 cars on the property, nine of them are probably going to be somebody’s grandparents with their grandchildren looking at the deer, and that’s perfectly fine, God bless them, and we hope that you enjoy yourself but remember one thing that this is a cemetery first, and people need to respect the property, and if they do that, there’s no harm done.”