TRAFFIC CAMERAS USED FOR ILLICIT SURVEILLANCE

Bradford Police have been illicitly using Urban Traffic Control cameras in the city centre to monitor political and social gatherings.

Members of the 1 in 12 Club have formally complained to the police and the council after their May Day celebrations were filmed.

Pete Chapman of the Club's May Day Collective said: "On Friday may 1st the 1 in 12 Club and Bradford Trades Council held an afternoon of free entertainment in Centenary Square, as part of this years May Day celebrations. The event was relaxed, well organised and stewarded, with no prospect of trouble. However, we noted that throughout the afternoon "traffic" cameras at Thornton Rd./Godwin St. and Sunbridge Rd. Tyrel St. were filming all those in Centenary Square.

"We take strong exception to the deliberately intrusive, provocative and illicit surveillance undertaken on this occasion by the police."

KDIS has established that these cameras are regularly used for general surveillance by the police, contrary to the local authority's published rules.

The 13 Urban Traffic Control cameras around Bradford are part of the 60-strong network set up by West Yorkshire County Council in the late '70's. Images are fed directly into the Central Police HQ at the Tyrls. These cameras are not covered by the privacy rules and safeguards that govern the Councils City centre CCTV security system.

When the County Council was abolished in 1986, control of the Traffic network was passed to a new body, the West Yorkshire Highways, Engineering and Technical Services (HETS). But on April 1st this year, Kirklees and Wakefield pulled out, and responsibility for the cameras passed to each local authority.

Wakefield "mothballed" its 4 cameras, whilst Kirklees and Leeds amalgamated the cameras into their own City Centre surveillance systems. Bradford is expected to do the same eventually.

Les Roberts, senior officer in charge of HETS told KDIS: "Use of the cameras is now the responsibility of Bradford Met Council. All we do is maintain them on their behalf.

He emphasised that the Traffic control system was quite separate from the Councils CCTV surveillance system.

"The two functions are quite separate. The traffic cameras are there just to monitor the traffic on-street. The monitoring of the system is in the Tyrls control room.

"In the '60's and '70's, and up to James Bulger basically, there were a lot of "invasion of privacy" lobbyists, where people were not very happy about CCTV cameras spying on people. But it was established that, purely for traffic purposes, there was nothing wrong with them. Traditionally the traffic surveillance cameras have operated on a quite different basis to security surveillance cameras."

The Councils 60 surveillance cameras are operated by council staff in separate control centre in Bradford and Keighley. Rules are meant to control how the cameras are used, and in what circumstances police can have access. These rules do not cover the traffic cameras.

Meanwhile, the Councils 5 new CCTV surveillance cameras in Shipley were switched on last week by Lord Mayor Tony Miller. The council has admitted in a confidential document that these cameras would be used to monitor Bingley Road Protesters, together with social dissidents like buskers and beggars. At the same time Bradford Police launched "Operation Crime Watch" to target "litterbugs and beggars". Special constable Paul Seage said: "We will be targeting people whose behaviour detracts from city life."

CCTV - Big Brother in Bradford

Sites - an interactive map of where all the Local Authorities CCTV cameras are located.