Intelligent, Targeted, Effective use of CCTV: Putting the case to the Scrutiny Committee
On Thursday night I was invited to the Scrutiny Committee, after Conservatives on the Council called into question two recent Council decisions relating to CCTV. When it came to the meeting itself, the Conservative Councillors on the Committee asked very few questions at all on the two decisions, and I'm still not sure exactly why they made vociferous calls in the press for the decisions to be reviewed. However, I was glad of the opportunity to discuss the decisions and make clear that I am adamant that the Council will do all it can to make our communities safer while also ensuring the civil liberties of local residents are protected.
One of the decisions was the acceptance of £25,000 of Home Office Funding on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership, which includes the Police and Fire Services among others, as a contribution to a project to install around six Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in the Borough. This system reads the registration number on vehicles, and checks them against lists of vehicles linked to crimes or individuals wanted by the police for criminal activities.
The results from the use of ANPR in tackling crime are exceptional. For example, in the short period between April and July this year, Beds Police ANPR Team report 46 drug-related arrests, 40 for theft and 22 for burglary. And this is before we have any cameras in Bedford Borough. Every police force in the country now uses ANPR. The Conservatives said that this decision should be reviewed, but I am adamant that with neighbouring areas increasingly using this crime-fighting tool, Bedford Borough must not get a reputation as somewhere criminals can operate without fear of detection through ANPR. We must not become a honey pot for criminals.
As someone who has campaigned for years on civil liberties issues, I am the first to acknowledge legitimate concerns around ANPR and how it could in theory be used. However, I can confirm that the Council itself will store no data whatsoever from the cameras, while the new Government has announced that the police will for the first time be bound by statutory rules on how it handles ANPR data to ensure the protection of innocent people.
I have always argued that we should not be aiming for blanket CCTV coverage, but intelligent CCTV coverage which actually works. That is why along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues on the Council I campaigned successfully for the introduction of wireless mobile CCTV units that can be moved in response to changing hotspots. I am also very pleased that we have now acquired a camera vehicle which will be used to log the details of unlawfully parked cars in dangerous locations, especially outside schools. This was the other decision under discussion on Thursday night. The vehicle is clearly marked and is not about surveillance, but rather a snapshot only of those cars parked illegally, whose owners will be fined. With children having been injured in accidents near schools in the Borough this year I have no doubts that the sooner we are using this camera to remove the scourge of dangerous parking the better.