‘Spycams’ a step too far

Jun 17 2010 By Adrian Goldberg

THE row over Birmingham’s new generation of CCTV cameras simply refuses to go away.

Residents are angry after a network of around 150 hi-tech “spycams” was recently installed without consultation in Washwood Heath, Sparkbrook, Moseley and King’s Heath.

MP Roger Godsiff took up the cudgels on their behalf in Parliament this week and complained that no one had asked him about them either.

Godsiff insists the cameras, which can identify car number plates and monitor traffic movements, mustn’t be switched on until the locals agree.

Sorry, Roger, it’s too late.

My understanding is that some of them are already operational, despite human rights lawyers questioning their legality.

Small wonder that many campaigners feel they are living in an open prison, with round-the-clock monitoring by the state.

We are already the most watched nation on earth – and now some of us will have our every movement tracked and stored on some sinister, secret database.

It’s no coincidence that the areas targeted for the scheme have a significant Muslim population.

The cash for the project came from a dedicated Home Office anti-terrorism project, prompting fears that this particular community is being singled out.

Few people object to CCTV when it’s used to combat crime in town and city centres.

The difference in this case is the cack-handed way in which the project has been handled by the Safer Birmingham Partnership – an unelected and unaccountable quango bringing together the police, the council and elected representatives.

Their claims that councillors had sanctioned the plans have been met with fierce denials by the councillors themselves.

Likewise their initial insistence that the project wasn’t specifically designed to combat terrorism. Whoops, yes it was.

Partnership means what it says – and having alienated members of the local community, the SBP is acting unreasonably as well as, possibly, unlawfully.

The police have a responsibility here, too, and must beware alienating the people they are seeking to help.

Time to switch off the cameras and instead of watching, residents start listening to them.