CCTV in homes to spy on neighbours
COUNCIL officials have installed secret CCTV cameras inside private homes to spy on the street outside, it was revealed yesterday.
Residents have agreed to the move in a bid to prosecute yobs causing anti-social behaviour.
But critics say the extension of surveillance is only needed because police have failed to tackle the problem – while others warn of the growing surveillance state in “Big Brother Britain”.
Under a trial scheme, Croydon Council in south London has installed cameras in two homes.
Each £1,000 device is linked to a laptop computer and accessible online by police and council officials 24 hours a day.
A council spokesman said the cameras would allow the authorities to respond quickly to anti-social behaviour and gather evidence for criminal prosecutions.
He denied they would be used to spy on neighbours and said more cameras could be installed if the pilot proves a success.
Gavin Barwell, a councillor, said: “No one should have to put up with anti-social behaviour on their doorstep and these cameras give us another means of responding quickly if it occurs.
“We already have an extensive range of CCTV equipment, but we want to be able to respond to communities’ needs for surveillance as quickly as possible should they arise.
“These new CCTV kits give us another weapon to fight anti-social behaviour quickly when we need to do so and we’ll be working together with the police to put them to best use.”
But Alex Deane, director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance Big Brother Watch, said: “People accept these cameras into their homes because they are afraid. The council might be installing them with the best intentions, but the end result is a culture of fear and mistrust driven by a failure by the borough and the police to have proper law enforcement in this area.
“Better to have real action from the failing authorities than to extend once more our surveillance society.”
Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said: “It shows we have become a Britain obsessed with CCTV.
“Unless the public are aware of where these cameras are, I believe this council should be taken to court for a breach of human rights.”
Meanwhile bureaucrats are being sent at taxpayers’ expense on a £9,400-a-head course to learn how to slap bin fines on families.
The “waste prevention” diploma teaches council officials to “encourage” people to cut waste. Staff are also taught to monitor how much households throw away during the graduate-level course.
Tory local government spokesman Bob Neill said: “Taxpayers will be shocked that their money is being spent on bin degrees for town hall bureaucrats, rather than focusing on emptying rubbish bins on time.”
Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Ordinary people are doing their best to recycle. Too often it is central and local government that do not meet their side of the bargain when it comes to reducing landfill waste. Frittering away time and taxpayers’ money sending the bin police to get a pointless diploma at a time when every penny counts is a scandal.”
Government rubbish watchdog Wrap, which runs the course, said: “We don’t accept these courses are poor value. They help to keep waste out of landfills which saves taxpayers money.”
