Police officers have welcomed their Icelandic counterparts to Wales to show off their new CCTV system.

The CCTV system across the Dyfed-Powys area has been newly reinstated in towns like Lampeter, Machynlleth and Newcastle Emlyn. And Icelandic police travelled over 1,000 miles as part of their project to adapt, renovate and modernise their own CCTV.

Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn and Chief Constable Mark Collins welcomed the group and talked them through the new system.

When Mr Llywelyn made his election pledge to reinstate CCTV in the force area, he pledged that he was determined to see it come to fruition, and to now be able to pass the learning and knowledge onto a police force from another country to emulate was very pleasing.

The group were given a tour around Police Headquarters, where they could see for themselves how 123 cameras are being proactively monitored from a centralised monitoring suite, and were also given presentations on the implementation of the system, how they’re making communities as safe and secure as possible, and the positive impact the infrastructure is having on policing throughout the force.

Reflecting on their visit, Chief Superintendent Thorhallur Ólafsson, Icelandic Police, said: “The reason for this visit is that we are adapting and renovating our camera systems in our capital and on the south coast of Iceland.

“There are a lot of similarities between Wales and Iceland. The conditions for a start – our Metropolitan police is located by the seaside and also South coast, so when choosing cameras, they must be able to withstand heavy, bad conditions.

“We have both rural areas and cities and towns, and Iceland is also a big agricultural and fishing nation but also tourism, so I think we have a lot of similarities.

“This time it is purely a business trip, but I think this is just the first trip.”

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