Author Topic: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.  (Read 7533 times)

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Offline The Bald Eagle

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Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« on: 23 May, 2015, 04:56:55 PM »
I have long maintained that although councils always told us that cctv cameras were used primarily on grounds of public (and let's not forget the kiddies) safety, the main function was to raise money from motorists.

I also maintained that the moment they couldn't make any money out of them by arse raping motorists, they would abandon the public (including the kiddies) to fend for themselves.

On the 1st April 2015 councils were banned from using cctv for parking enforcement. Today is 23rd May.

According to Tony Porter the abandonment has already begun.

Cynical?

Moi!?


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32856770

Surveillance commissioner warns councils 'turning off CCTV'



Councils in England and Wales are turning off CCTV cameras in an attempt to cut costs, a surveillance watchdog has warned.

Tony Porter, the surveillance camera commissioner, said switching off cameras would mean the police would find it harder to detect crime.

He told the BBC the situation was a "concern" and blamed the government's austerity cuts "sweeping the country".

He is due to present his findings to the government in the autumn.

Mr Porter, who is the commissioner for England and Wales, said budget cuts had led councils to decide to spend less on public space CCTV, meaning there was less money for staff training, poorer understanding of legal issues and a reduced service.

He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that councils did not have an "absolute right" to monitor a community so it had to be done "in a way that generates trust".

"If there are going to be training and compliance issues, that trust will be damaged," he said.

In a separate interview with the Independent, Mr Porter said: "There are an increasing number of examples where councils and employees are citing a lack of money as being the rationale to reduce the service or completely change its composition - and that does concern me.

"Because CCTV isn't a statutory function, it is something a lot of councils are looking at.

"Most people recognise the utility of CCTV for supporting law enforcement. To degrade the capacity may have an impact on police. It may well be that they will find it increasingly difficult to acquire the images that will help them investigate crimes.

"I do think public authorities should be held to greater account."

The UK has one of the largest number of CCTV cameras in the world. The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) estimates there are between 4 and 5.9 million cameras, with around one in 70 publicly owned.

He said councils could face greater scrutiny of their use of CCTV, including potential inspections and enforcement.

Mr Porter, who has been in his post for just over a year, has written to council chief executives to remind them of the law and code of practice.

In a speech to the CCTV User Group conference this week, he warned of misuse of cameras in some local authority areas.

He said: "I've seen councils in large towns like Blackpool and Derby stop monitoring their systems 24-7. My understanding is that this is not as the result of a review or public consultation but simply to save money.

"And as austerity measures continue to bite on public space CCTV will we see a deterioration of standards and training?"

A government spokesman said the "majority" of local authorities have continued to balance their budgets, and increased or maintained public satisfaction with services.

He also pointed out that falling crime figures in the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales meant that people and communities were the safest they had been since the survey began in 1981.

CCTV provision should be decided by elected local councillors, reflecting local circumstances and residents' views, especially concerns about crime, he added.

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Offline DastardlyDick

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #1 on: 23 May, 2015, 06:03:26 PM »
Well, they've had their funding cut, they've been prevented from raising Council Tax to make up the short fall, so anything that they don't have to provide by Law and/or doesn't make money is bound to be cut. Add on the cuts in Police funding.....those streets are going to get well dodgy.

Offline Ewan Hoosami

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #2 on: 23 May, 2015, 11:59:34 PM »
Bloody amazing. Spokesweasels have been telling us for years that CCTV $cameras are an important tool to reduce crime and anti social behaviour. The moment it can't be used for parking, it's not so important anymore.

Appealing to the council is like playing chess with a pigeon. You might be a chess grand master but the pigeon will always knock all the pieces over, shit on the board and then strut around triumphantly.

Offline Overlord

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #3 on: 24 May, 2015, 02:36:20 PM »
Bloody amazing. Spokesweasels have been telling us for years that CCTV $cameras are an important tool to reduce crime and anti social behaviour. The moment it can't be used for parking, it's not so important anymore.
:idea:
I wonder if councils perceive this as a way of punishing the government for shutting down CCTV for parking. Thereby possibly reducing the crime clear-up rates which would in turn reflect badly on the government. Bearing in mind, that more or less, essentially we still have the same government as prior to the election. Just a thought.
« Last Edit: 24 May, 2015, 02:41:25 PM by Overlord »

Offline DastardlyDick

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #4 on: 24 May, 2015, 03:49:54 PM »
Bloody amazing. Spokesweasels have been telling us for years that CCTV $cameras are an important tool to reduce crime and anti social behaviour. The moment it can't be used for parking, it's not so important anymore.
:idea:
I wonder if councils perceive this as a way of punishing the government for shutting down CCTV for parking. Thereby possibly reducing the crime clear-up rates which would in turn reflect badly on the government. Bearing in mind, that more or less, essentially we still have the same government as prior to the election. Just a thought.

Except, of course, the Government can dish out far more "punishment" to Councils than vice versa - with no election until 2020, the Government don't care what anyone thinks of them.
Any fall in clear up rates would be blamed on the local Police and Crime Comissioner and/or the Cheif Constable.
I think it's just Councils saying to the Government 'if you want stuff to happen to suit your agenda, you are going to have to pay for it', which seems fair enough to me.

Offline Ewan Hoosami

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #5 on: 24 May, 2015, 06:01:42 PM »
The stuff has been paid for but the money is being wasted. Local bloggers are reporting the waste on a daily basis. It's everywhere. It's ridiculous. Bloody ridiculous, and that, most definitely, does not seem fair enough to me.
Appealing to the council is like playing chess with a pigeon. You might be a chess grand master but the pigeon will always knock all the pieces over, shit on the board and then strut around triumphantly.

Offline scalyback

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #6 on: 24 May, 2015, 06:47:36 PM »
of course it was installed to make money.

If the BPA can lie like schoolchildren behind the bike sheds with a packet of fags, then there is no reason why the bloody councils can't do the same.

Of course the tap has run dry, so as the BPA would be quick to agree, they are "Killing the children" by switching off the CCTV systems.

2014 "We need CCTV to save the children"
2015 "F :o ck the children, we're not raking it in anymore"

Does that help explain the strange reversal on CCTV trends?

Offline Overlord

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #7 on: 24 May, 2015, 07:33:40 PM »

2014 "We need CCTV to save the children"
2015 "F :o ck the children, we're not raking it in anymore"

Does that help explain the strange reversal on CCTV trends?

Sounds about right!

Offline DastardlyDick

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #8 on: 24 May, 2015, 07:56:43 PM »
The stuff has been paid for but the money is being wasted. Local bloggers are reporting the waste on a daily basis. It's everywhere. It's ridiculous. Bloody ridiculous, and that, most definitely, does not seem fair enough to me.

The actual cameras may have been paid for, what may not have been paid for is the wages of the people who actually monitor them. Since the biggest expense for any employer is the cost of people, and given the ease with which people can be laid off these days, guess what's going to go first when times are hard? It could also be the case that the cameras being switched off need upgrading/repairing which the Council has no money for. My local Council has decided that all non-essential (which means anything that isn't an 'A' Road) street lights are switched off at midnight to save money, they're so desperate.
There may well be waste occurring, trouble is, one man's "waste of money" is another man's "essential expenditure".
I, for example, think that Overseas Aid is a waste of money when we have people in the UK reliant on Food Banks, but I know people who think that we don't spend enough on it.
CCTV does indeed have it's uses, but we, as a society (or at least our Elected Representatives), appear to have decided that unless it can be funded at someone else's expense, we don't want it.

Offline The Bald Eagle

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #9 on: 26 May, 2015, 11:59:02 AM »
It's the cynicism of it all that winds me up. I understand that many people (not me) are willing to compromise their rights to privacy because they believe their safety can be assured if cctv is allowed to proliferate.

What really gets my goat is that councils funded the proliferation by targeting one section of society, i.e. the motorist, in order to achieve that goal, all the time thinking it was ok to discriminate against the motorist because the end justified the means.

And then, when it all goes tits up and government take away their cash cow, the councils turn around and blame "austerity" in order to justify putting their constituents at risk. If the safety of those it purports to serve really is that important to councils, then throwing their toys out of the pram by closing down cctv when parking enforcement is taken away from them really shows the true depth of their concerns.



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Offline Pat Pending

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Re: Abandoning cctv cameras that can no longer make a profit.
« Reply #10 on: 26 May, 2015, 08:49:35 PM »
Spot on BE.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Beer in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up,  totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a  ride!!"

 


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