Brit car video surveillance out of control

[Alfred Qaeda]

DAILY MAIL (London) June 11, 2001 LENGTH: 705 words A SPEED CAMERA ON
EVERY CORNER
DAILY MAIL (London)
June 12, 2001

POLICE WILL ISSUE UP TO TEN MILLION TICKETS A YEAR IN A MASSIVE
CLAMPDOWN ON SPEEDING MOTORISTS. WITH THE
NUMBER OF SPEED CAMERAS EXPECTED TO TREBLE, THERE WILL be no escape from
the prying electronic eyes.

For the police, it will mean a gold-mine in fines thanks to the decision
to allow forces to keep money
raised from fixed penalties. Until now, many of the 4,300 cameras across
the country have been
ineffective because police cannot afford to stock or process the film.

But the potential to raise revenue has given them a powerful incentive
to extend and improve the network.
This means any driver 'flashed' by a camera will now almost certainly
face a fine.

The speeding clampdown comes as the latest crime figures show a
year-on-year rise of 2.5 per cent in
violent offences including murder, rape and muggings.

Yesterday, motoring groups claimed the blitz would undermine public
confidence in police priorities.

As well as alienating drivers already burdened by high fuel taxes and
rising crime, more cameras would
never be as effective as patrol cars in preventing truly dangerous
driving, they said. Police, however,
are delighted with the prospect of more cameras on the roads.

Some areas involved in trial schemes have seen 25-fold increases in the
number of tickets issued to
drivers.

If these results are reflected across the country, the number of
penalties issued via roadside cameras
could soar from 550,000 in 1999 to more than ten million.

North Wales chief constable Richard Brun-strom, who leads the
Association of Chief Police Officers'
traffic technology committee is keen to see more cameras on the roads.

'Speed cameras make a major contribution to road safety and this
legislation means motorists can expect
to see at least a tripling in the numbers on Britain's roads,' he said.

Under new Home Office rules, money raised by fines will no longer go
straight to the Treasury.

Instead, police will be allowed to keep fixed penalty revenue above a
'baseline' figure. Almost all the
43 forces in England and Wales are submitting business plans to the
Government to show how they will use
the extra money.

The standard penalty increased last year from GBP 40 to GBP 60, and m

Edmund King of the RAC Foundation said: 'The danger is that speed
cameras actually lead to our roads
being under-policed.

'With an over-reliance on speed cameras, forces have been cutting back
on traffic police.

'In some areas there is little or no chance of being stopped for
dangerous or careless driving, which is
often more dangerous than speeding.

'Only around a third of accidents are blamed on speed.

'Cameras don't pick up on drivers tailgating the car in front, or
swerving between lanes.

'Home Office research revealed a 60 per cent chance of dangerous drivers
having committed other criminal
offences.

'Those stopped may have burgled goods in the car, for example. Cameras
won't clear up any of those other
crimes.

'We are already seeing cameras being extended beyond accident blackspots
to straight stretches of rural
road in places like Oxfordshire.

'If that trend continues there is the danger we will see speed cameras
on every bend in every trunk road.
'We don't believe that is something motorists want to see, and nor do
we.'

Yesterday, Home Secretary David Blunkett signalled his determination not
to let the new financial rules
distract police from their core purpose of fighting crime.

A source close to Mr Blunkett said: 'Road safety is important, but we
don't want to see manpower diverted
to running speed cameras.

'The cameras are a valuable tool but we have to strike a balance.'