Clippings (April - June 1997)Clippings (April - June 1997)T&A 7/4/97
Environmental watchdogs are strengthening their fight against fly-tippers with high-tech surveillance equipment at dumping blackspots.
Special remote-controlled CCTV-style cameras and infra-red photographic equipment is being installed in summer at a number of sites throughout West Yorkshire - including Bradford - where problems with fly-tipping are worse than anywhere else in the country.
The location of the cameras, which will be inconspicuous, is not being revealed, but it is hoped that their presence will act as a deterrent to tippers in the same way as CCTV has been a success in cutting crime in city centres. The measures - which are being pioneered in West Yorkshire - are part of a national crackdown by the Environment Agency in its war against illegal dumping.
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of dumping incidents across the country since October last year, when the Government introduced a special landfill tax. The levy - introduced to encourage people to recycle materials - raised the cost of dumping materials by up to £7 a tonne. But it has had an unwanted consequence, driving more operators to tip skip and lorry loads of waste illegally.
Visiting West Yorkshire, the Bristol based Environment Agency's chief executive, Ed Gallagher, said the increase in fly-tipping in West Yorkshire was worse than anywhere in the country, with around 50 per cent more incidents.
Across the Bradford district the number of dumping incidents rose from 185 in the early and middle quarter of last year to 340 in October, November and December. Mr Gallagher said: "We are putting up the surveillance equipment in the hope that it will deter people from committing this crime."
Disposing of the debris created by modern society is a costly and messy business. The more we can recycle, the better. Which is why the Government introduced a special landfill tax as an incentive, to encourage ways of reusing the materials we no longer want. But the consequent increase of up to £7 a tonne in the cost of dumping materials has had the unfortunate result of encouraging fly tipping as well as recycling, a problem which is particularly acute in densely-populated West Yorkshire.
The increase in the number of lorry loads of waste dumped around the place has prompted the Environment Agency to install CCTV cameras at as-yet-unspecified sites around the district to detect and deter the fly-tippers. It is a shame that such drastic action is necessary, but the increase in illegal dumping makes it clearly so.
The number of reported incidents in Bradford alone rose from 185 in the early quarter of last year to 340 in October, November and December. And on top of the incidents reported there must be many others which no-one bothers to ring the authorities about. The Environment Agency is urging more people to report sighting of fly tipping, and should be able to expect the support of the public in its campaign.
But the watchful cameras, backed with prosecutions and fines, should be a big additional help in hammering home the point that society will not tolerate fly tipping, and that playing by the rules and paying the infill charge is a much cheaper option than being caught breaking the law.
Jim Greenhalf reports, T&A, 9/4/97
The last car I owned, a Ford Escort, vanished from the private car park behind the house where I lived in Heaton. Tyre tracks in the thin layer of February snow marked the spot where my car had been.
Undeterred by security lighting, triggered by the alignment of the human form with the apparatus on the back wall of the house, in the wee silent hours of early morning someone made off with my car.
Police discovered its whereabouts six weeks later, minus wheels and engine, in a Pontefract scrap-yard. I gave up driving after that, weary of providing car thieves with employment at my expense.
The first car I owned, A Ford Granada, was stolen from Bradford Council car parks on at least two occasions. But those were the days of pay-and-display and not much more. Since I gave up driving car parks have enjoyed the kind of security surveillance once exclusive to banks and building societies. Ablaze with light and tracked by cameras, the average municipal car park is now better protected than most homes.
Take the 13 CCTV cameras in Bingley and Keighley. They are, I was informed by a spokesman in the council's car parks and CCTV department, state-of-the-art compared with their 36 older counterparts in Bradford. These things are so sophisticated that if someone wallops a pay-and-display machine the vibration sends a signal via an office in Bradford to the cameras which zoom in on the culprit. The obvious conclusion to draw is that these expensive security measures, first introduced in Bradford in 1989/90 as part of the Safer Cities scheme, have been instrumental in reducing the scale of car crime.
West Yorkshire Police recorded crime statistics for 1995 and 1996 show a fall in theft from motor vehicles from 42,926 to 41,662 and an even bigger drop in the theft of motor vehicles from 33,932 to 27,833.
According to a survey of car crime by the insurance group Eagle Star Bradford matches the average rate for the UK of 34 thefts per 1000 vehicles. That compares with 55 thefts per 1000 for Leeds and 40 thefts per 1000 for Sheffield.
But before you jubilantly go out and wave your three year warranty in the air consider this: car crime in Britain is reportedly far higher than anywhere else in the European Union. Austria is particularly blessed with fewer than 20 thefts per 1000 cars.
Last month, before the General Election was called, the Labour Party's Shadow Home Secretary Jack Straw made much of statistics published in the British Crime Survey, which stated that since 1979 car crime in the UK had rocketed by 260 per cent, from 76,000 to 274,000.
Mere statistics by themselves can be interpreted in completely contradictory ways. For example the British Crime Survey's figures may be construed as both a measure of the growth of social and economic deprivation and, paradoxically, the health of the economy (more vehicles on the road, greater car ownership, more opportunities for theft).
Interesting as all this may be, the average Damien and Donna, Kylie and Keith, Jason and Julie only want to feel assured that their XR3, Ford Capri or Fiesta XR2 will be where they parked it, and in one piece, after a hard day at the office or tripping the light fantastic in one of Bradford's night spots.
According to my contact in the council, the introduction of CCTV in the multi-storey car park at Westgate resulted in up to a 60 per cent reduction in car crime almost overnight. Last year £600,000-worth of improvements at this car park included improved lighting.
The better the lighting, the better the pictures recorded on the tapes. Every single image captured by CCTV remains on tape for at least 14 days (this period may be extended to 28 days in future). As most reported crime is notified within a day or two, the authorities have plenty of time to check the tapes for a particular time and place if necessary. After 14 days the tapes are put in a Degauser which wipes them clean. The tapes are then used again.
Since the introduction of CCTV in parts of Keighley and Bingley, car crime has reportedly fallen by up to 60 per cent too. No doubt the future installation of six CCTV cameras in Shipley will show similar results.
However, a question comes to mind: Is crime prevented in one area uncommitted crime, or merely crime displaced to another place unprotected by lights and cameras?
The latter seems to be the case. For example, last month the T&A reported complaints from two Bingley bowling clubs. Since the £80,000 CCTV network was put up in the town centre in January vandals had directed their destructive attentions to Myrtle Park, said members of the Bingley Glen and Myrtle Park bowling clubs. There are no cameras in Myrtle Park, not as yet at any rate.
While most cameras are no longer the unprotected reservations they were eight or nine years ago, the street is now more likely to be the focus of would-be car thieves and marauders.
by Alun Palmer, crime reporter, T&A, 11/4/97
Amber gamblers at three dangerous junctions in Bradford are to be caught on camera. Red light cameras have been installed at three busy junctions in the city and go on line on Monday. And police have pledged that they will hunt down every driver they catch on film.
The cameras have been installed at the junctions of Manchester Road and St. Stephens Road, Manningham Lane and Queens Road, and Leeds Road and the City Ring Road.
Sergeant Jim Pinder, of West Yorkshire police's operational support department, said the cameras would help with road safety. He said: "We have had similar cameras in Wakefield for over a year. They are well signed so that people have no excuse for not knowing they are there, but we still have more than 30 offences a week."
Once a motorist jumps a red light, it activates a camera and the police then watch all the films and take down registration numbers. A letter is then sent to the registered owner asking who was driving that day. The driver is then given the chance to pay a fixed penalty of £40 with three penalty points on their licence. If they don't pay, then the case goes to magistrates court for action.
Sgt Pinder said: "We hope that people will take note and not take the risk of dodging the traffic lights. Our aim is to prevent accidents."
Councillor Latif Darr, chairman of Bradford Council's transport and highways committee, said: "Accidents and injuries have been caused at these three locations by motorists disobeying traffic signals. The use of cameras has been made necessary by such irresponsible behaviour and if this scheme is successful, we will consider extending it to other areas. This action supports other initiatives aimed at improving safety for all road users in the Bradford district."
by Greg Wright, T&A, 19/4/97
Security has been stepped up at Bradford's Foster Square Railway Station after a "black spot" was discovered in the closed circuit TV system.
An inspection revealed that part of the platform was not covered by the station's spy cameras which meant crimes could go undetected. Station managers have now upgraded the system to ensure there is no hiding place for wrongdoers on the concourse. And the station could soon be fitted with a BT telephone for the first time to make users feel safer at night.
The move comes in the light of heightened tension with the IRA targeting mainland railway stations.
John Oxley, Metro Projects Co-ordinator, said: "There was a problem with one of the security cameras in the middle of the concourse area. There appears to have been a black spot that had not been covered by the existing cameras."
Bradford Councillor Hazel Gundry (Lab. Shipley West), a member of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority passenger consultative committee, noticed that part of the station was not being filmed during an official tour.
"They are going to pursue a solution to it and it may well have been dealt with already," she said. "It could be useful if they put some sort of sign up, as they have done in Shipley, telling people that the CCTV system has been set up for their safety. It makes people feel secure and they are more likely to use the station. When the booking office is shut there is nobody there at all so people are left completely in the dark. But the station is a vast improvement to what it was."
Mersey Travel Holdings, the franchisees for Regional Railways North east, is also going to introduce a public telephone as part of its agreement.
Councillor Gundry said: "If you no longer have station personnel you need to have a telephone. One to some extent replaces the other." Councillor Gundry believed a telephone presence would offer reassurance, particularly to lone women travelling at night.
by Olwen Vasey, City Hall reporter, T&A, 24/4/97
Bradford's roadside traffic cameras could be utilised in off peak times to become a major extension to the city's closed circuit television scheme. The swinging around of the cameras is being considered by officers who are examining new proposals to set up a big CCTV nerve centre in the basement of City Hall.
The 13 roadside cameras around Bradford relay traffic information back to the Urban Traffic Control Unit in Leeds from points which include Evans Towers off Manchester Road, the junction of Manningham Lane and Drewton Road, and Princes Way-Thornton Road.
The cameras may be adapted to survey larger areas, extending the coverage of the 31 existing CCTV's in the streets and city centre car parks.
The present control room in Jacobs Well council offices would be replaced with a big, secure unit in City Hall, closely supervised by officers.
Chairman of the Council's community safety sub-committee, Councillor Jack Womersley said they were in preliminary talks with the police about possible funding of the state-of-the-art project. He added control of the cameras was likely to switch to Bradford from the Urban Traffic Unit Control Unit later this year, which may mean the scheme could be launched.
"Other cities have used a system with the cameras swung round after 6pm, giving them enormous extra coverage. But this is an embryonic scheme and there are a lot of things to be considered."
A police spokesman confirmed that early talks had taken place with the Council about proposals. He said: "It is an excellent idea. CCTV cameras have a proven record for reducing crime and improving people's feeling of safety. The police would be looking for a good relationship with the CCTV control room and being able to react quickly."
By Olwen Vasey, City Hall reporter, T&A 1/5/97
A group is stepping up its campaign to get close circuit television cameras moved out of the district's city and town centres.
Bradford's 1 in 12 private members club has organised a public meeting in the Diplomat hotel at 8 pm on Sunday. The group says there is no evidence the systems stop crime and they are an invasion of privacy. It wants the council to evaluate their success and drop plans to extend CCTV in Bradford city centre.
But today chairman of the Council's community safety sub-committee Coun Jack Womersley said he had been inundated with calls from people who were pleased with the cameras and wanted more. He wants to extend the system by swinging existing roadside cameras for traffic round during off-peak times to survey a wider area.
Coun Womersley also hopes a hi-tech nerve centre could be set up in the basement of City Hall with pictures constantly monitored by staff. He said: "The cameras are not just set up to solve crime, although that is a valuable extra. They are meant to increase personal security and get rid of the fear of crime.
"They were invaluable in the Jamie Bulger case and if, for example, an old lady had her bag snatched in Bradford we would be able to go after the person responsible."
But the 1 in 12 Club says the cameras simply divert the crimes elsewhere and it is concerned about how the films of people caught in the camera's eye are used.
Today author Simon Davies, who will be the main speaker at the public meeting, said: "Public support for CCTV has plummeted to an all time low in the last two years throughout Britain as people realise that its record as a crime prevention tool is lamentable."
SchNEWS: May15th 1997
We've all heard about brave fire-fighters being asked to rescue pussies stuck up trees (ouch, sorree!), but Saturday's call out surely took the biscuit. Randy Sandy, a blow-up doll had been stuck on one of Brighton's CCTV cameras by activists pointing out that camera technology is now so advanced it can strip people of their clothes! Brighton Police however were not amused and rung for the fire brigade to remove offending objects including a startled looking Sandy.
Nine other cameras were also targeted by activists - stirred into action by a talk on surveillance at Justice's? Direct Action Conference. Apart from Sandy, one camera had a bag put over it head, while one resident refused to come down for two hours from a pole, complaining that it looks straight into his bedroom window. Meanwhile a mobile spy camera was placed on a nearby block of flats watching the entrance of the Conference and later in the day two cops walked into a crowded pub and arrested someone they'd spotted on their `rogues gallery.' Brighton CCTV control room is linked up to a face recognition programme which has a role call of people on the `wanted list' enabling them to cross check files on known activists and pick up any they consider to be wanted.
As one London activist complained to SchNEWS "It's all very well going on actions knowing you have a chance of being nicked, but when your in the pub chatting someone up and your mate gets pulled then things are really getting out of hand."
taken from: SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 2DX, England
by Sarah Walsh, T&A, 16/6/97
A feasibility study is to be carried out into the idea of extending Bingley's closed-circuit TV scheme with two more cameras.
Bradford Council officials feel two more cameras could be installed for about £12,000 each now the main system is in place. The extra cameras would extend the 'spy in the sky' system into blackspots not adequately covered at the moment.
One could go near Bingley Railway Station to scan Wellington Street, the entrance to Bingley nightclub Club Max, the nearby taxi rank and the Busfield Street junction. Another could go in Main Street near the former Woolworth's site.
Trevor Green of Bradford Council agreed to carry out the feasibility study after a meeting between the Bingley Traders Against Crime group and local police.
He said: "We will have a look at putting cameras in places suggested by the police. We always had the intention of extending the system. The feasibility study will look at precisely where the new cameras could go. "
Funding would have to be found locally through a private/public sector partnership," he added.
"We would be looking for a partnership between businesses in the area, and possibly the railway station, with a contribution from Bradford Council," Mr. Green added. "There are no longer any grants available from the Home Office."
Letters to the Editor, T&A, 20/6/97
SIR - You really should stop referring to the council's CCTV cameras as "crime-busting" (T&A, June 16), since they've yet to bust a single crime.
Plans to spend another £25,000 in Bingley on yet more cameras cannot be justified. What about having a proper independent evaluation of the systems first, as supported at a recent public meeting by one the council's most senior officers? And why won't the police make available local crime statistics (which local MP Chris Leslie insists are publicly available), so that we can all see what's happening?
Surely if they've nothing to hide, they've nothing to fear.
Anthony Taylor, 1 in 12 Club, Albion Street, Bradford
by Louise Auty, T&A, 18/6/97
A village group is examining the possibility of installing crime-busting security cameras in Pool-in-Wharfedale.
Councillors in Pool-in-Wharfedale are looking to install closed circuit television after a spate of vandal attacks in the area. Parts of the village have suffered recently from vandalism, including the children's play area and around the parish church. But they are also looking at addressing the causes of crime in the village.
At the last Pool Parish Council meeting, councillors decided to look at whether or not CCTV could work in the village. But, at the same time, they are also hoping to be able to improve facilities for Pool's young people, as they think a lot of the damage is being caused when teenagers gather together.
Parish council chairman Chris Leggatt said: "We are looking at whether or nor we can install CCTV in the village center by the church and in the play area. But we don't want to do that without trying to address some of the problems which we think may be causing the damage we are getting," he added.
CCTV has been used in towns and cities across West Yorkshire to crack down on crime. It has been particularly successful in Bingley town centre where crime has been cut.
Shipley won cash from the Government's £15 million CCTV fund nationally and the £130,000 scheme is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.
(T&A, 27/6/97)
Bingley's £80,000 security camera system has netted its first crook.
Cameras scanning the town's car parks picked up a would-be thief tampering with cars and operators quickly alerted police. Officers caught the man red-handed after being given his description by the CCTV control room worker.
The man, a 25-year-old from Shipley, was arrested, questioned and charged with attempting to steal from a motor vehicle. He later appeared before Bradford Magistrates Court and was found guilty, and sentenced to three months in prison.
Details of his conviction on October 18 last year have just been released by Bingley police.
Inspector Jim Hancox said: "I am delighted with the results of the CCTV cameras. We are reducing crime all the time. It isn't just catching people, it is the reassurance the cameras give to people that the can walk around in safety.
It is vital that people can feel safe when they are in public places and this system goes a long way towards making them feel that way. Public security systems have an important role to play in keeping our streets safe, and they are bound to grow in the future.
"All the people who contributed to the cost of the camera system can be proud, because it's having a positive effect," he added.
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