Derry City Council is to introduce closed circuit television monitoring to the city centre as part of a package of over 70 measures aimed at reducing crime.
A report on town-centre management presented by PA Consulting Group 2000 revealed citycentre crime and disorder was costing Derry almost £8 million sterling a year.
Councillors were also told the figure excluded annual revenue lost to city-centre traders, estimated at over £10 million, because people were afraid to shop in the city.
The report, based on statistics available for 1997, showed the main crime was violence. It said 84 per cent of violent crime was committed against men and most of the assaults took place in early morning.
The council reached its decision just before a poll in the Derry Journal showed that 91 per cent of callers in its phone vote supported the installation of the cameras.
The mayor, Cllr Pat Ramsey, said city-centre violence was the most serious issue facing the council and the community. "We have a responsibility to deal with it. CCTV on its own will not solve the problem, but it's one of the most important of over 70 recommendations which we have approved."
Mr Brendan Duddy, chairman of the City Centre Community Panel, which in conjunction with the council commissioned the consultants' report, said the initial cost of implementing it would be about £800,000 sterling. The director of the Town Centre Management Group, Ms Cliodhna Mulhern, said city-centre crime had cost almost £8 million sterling each year for the last three years. "That figure does not include how much money city-centre businesses are losing because people are avoiding the city centre."
However, Sinn Fein Councillor Cathal Crumley, who led a walkout of his party's eight councillors from the meeting, said the council had prejudged the issue.
"We are not turning an important social issue into a political issue. The thuggery in the city centre needs to be confronted, but the solution has to be people based and not technology based."