British Traffic Wardens Issued CCTV Head Cameras

Rick writes "The Surveillance Society of Great Britain has taken another turn for the worse, as traffic wardens in Eccles, Manchester are being issued with CCTV head sets and given the legal power to impose fines of up to £80 for littering and other anti social behavior"

Comments

Re:A change for the worse?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, a large number of those who were driven out of NYC during his term just wound up upstate.

Re:Propaganda

[stonertom]

While anti-social behaviour is a bit ambiguous in terminology I got the impression from the news last night, that the cameras were to stop the people who feel it's the traffic warden's fault they're parked on double yellow lines. Here in England, a huge number of people have a huge problem with parking laws and seem to believe that abuse and violence will get there ticket canceled. If I was a warden, I'd want the evendance that some chav really DID spend 20 mins shouting death threats at me. As a side note: I met a doorman with a camera on his head before, and I hope they made the camera strong. As soon as there was a fight the first thing to be hit was the camera (obviously the camera isn't sending footage live to a CCTV server, duh!)

Re:Propaganda

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

And if you don't have anything to hide, why object to us installing a camera in your home....

WTF are you talking about?

1) The GP didn't make the 'nothing to hide' argument.
2) These cameras only record what the warden would see in any case.
3) Cameras recording private & public spaces are completely different.

I don't expect you to read the article - but at least read the comment you're replying to.

Re:well

[Gordonjcp]

It shows at least 10 police setting up a sting operation to bust people for minor amounts of marijuana. The video shows the police arresting someone for attempting to purchase $10 of pot.

In the UK, the huge crowd of cops involved would probably get fired for that.

Re:well

[mjjw]

and given the legal power to impose fines of up to £80 for littering and other anti social behavior

No they can't: in England only a court may impose a fine, anything else is just a Penatly Charge Notice with an intent to prosecute if you refuse to pay.

The 1689 Bill of Rights says that Englishmen have freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial.

Exactly so, the problem is lawyers

[Flying pig]

The rot actually started when UK solicitors (a kind of lawyer) lost their monopoly on house conveyancing, i.e. buying and selling houses. This was their main source of easy income. As a result they started looking for additional income and have gradually been going down the path of the US with ambulance chasing, no win no fee etc.

The US model was rooted in a very different society. In the UK, the lawyers are behaving like US lawyers, challenging everything, while in general the magistrates and the judges have been more tolerant than they would be in the US. This has caused low level criminals to believe that they can always get off, and leads to the need to have several police involved in even the most minor cases because lawyers will challenge the evidence of a single policeman. In the past they would not, and, while this led to the occasional miscarriage of justice, it did mean that the integrity of the police was very important because bad evidence by one would taint all police.

The headcams are basically a way of circumventing challenges from bad lawyers. As such they are not evidence of a surveillance society, they are evidence of a society where the justice system has been tilted too far in favour of criminals.

Nothing New Here

[vtechpilot]

I was in Birmingham UK yesterday and saw a street warden with a head mounted camera. So this is already happening. Additionally, many police jurisdictions in the US already use similar technology like a camera with a wide angle lens attached to their vest.

Re:With great power comes...

[laughing_badger]

Strictly, it was for kicking two crisps that had come out of the packet into the gutter. This would indeed attract vermin and they should have been picked up and put in a pocket for disposal at home.

However, it should be an inform first system. If the intent is to educate, rather than gather revenue, the warden should have said 'Could you take those home with you please, because they will attract rats?" and only issued a fine if the person refused.

Having the cameras would allow the wardens to prove that they had been polite and only issued the fine as a last resort.

Re:well

[peterprior]

"I say we should all ask for the footage of us on camera under the Data Protection Act and swamp the government/businesses with stupid amounts of administrative paperwork."

I was thinking of doing this and encouraging others to do so, but at £10 a go it soon gets pricey :/

Re:well

[Anonymous Coward]

1 - there are different types of prison, and in different areas. Prisons in Wales being full does not mean that prisons in Manchester are full, or vice versa. Equally, prisons for serious offenders being full does not mean prisons for minor offenders (which I suspect the private sector finds easier and cheaper to run) will be full.
2 - the article you linked to does not mention an assault on a child by the defendent, it refers to possession of images of an assault on a child. This is defined in UK law as a crime in itself, but is still not the same as an actual assault on a child.
3 - If you're looking for someone committing an actual assault on someone under the age of 16 being bailed, you probably want this article.

Re:Traffic Wardens != Police Officers

[b0s0z0ku]

Traffic wardens are nowadays a lower lifeform employed by local councils.

So they're the equivalent of a "meter maid" (or parking enforcement dude, if you want to be P.C.) in US cities?

Re:well

[AncientPC]

Sure the authorities may not abuse this power now but what's to stop them from abusing it in the future?

During the 1930 US Census added a seemingly harmless addition to the census form: nationality. This meaningless piece of data was used 20-odd years later for the collection of German and Japanese immigrants into concentration camps.