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No CCTV in Westminster area

by Stumps
Wed, Jun 08, 2016 09:39
5

Dont know if this has been picked up or not but just read the following:

 

A central London council has made the decision to switch off its entire network of CCTV cameras.

Westminster City Council agreed the move at a cabinet meeting o...n Monday evening as part of an effort to cut costs.

It means all the local authority’s 75 cameras will be turned off on September 1 to save up to £1 million a year.

Some of the busiest areas of central London fall under Westminster Council control, including Soho, which has a huge night-time economy.

Opposition leaders and policing experts have previously criticised the proposals.

Terror and policing expert David Videcette told the Standard earlier this month: "It will be a huge, huge loss to police.

"All council CCTV networks are a massive resource to police, have a massive impact on bringing down anti-social behaviour, crime, drug dealing, they are very, very valuable to police.

"It's crazy - the money the council will spend on putting things right, vandalism, theft from local authority premises, it will pay for itself twice over.

"And there's a risk if there was a terrorist attack and we had to track a terrorist's movements.”

 

Lets hope there are no accidents that require cctv  !!!!!!

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5 comments

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fenix | 7 years ago
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They just want to pass the cost of them onto the police or whatever.  Their revenue has come down and they want to save money.

 

I'm not that bothered who pays for them in the end - but it's bloody ridiculous to have no CCTV in an area such as this.  As the report says - it'll pay for itself anyway.

 

I bet it won't get turned off. 

Avatar
Leviathan | 7 years ago
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How is private enterprise supposed to replace this service? I think we all know and accept the advantages and limitations of CCTV despite people's fears in the 90s. Sometimes the stupidity of Tories is breathtaking.*

*Unless they realize that by closing all public toilets we will have to decriminalise pissing in the street, hence no CCTV. Yes Primeminister.

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bluemoonday | 7 years ago
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I don't know anything about public security but this seems like a big deal? I thought CCTV was introduced to save money, but now even this cost savings measure is to be cut? Strange times indeed.
On a tangent, I'm surprised there's only 75 units in the whole borough? I guess not all public spaces CCTV is council operated?

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dare99 | 7 years ago
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If the cameras are still up, someone, somewhere will be recording the feed.

I got my bike nicked in the city of london a few years back, and according to the police, all the CCTV in the area were out of order. ( I think that's police code for "couldn't be arsed to look").

 

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tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
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Odd decision. Odd in terms of current trends of surveillance. Since Blair spending on surveillance has been huge. Wonder if budget is the real reason.

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