Dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour in the West End ...

Cllr Chalkley states that CCTV cameras have been installed in areas with 'known problems with traffic and anti-social behaviour.'
Cllr. Chalkley then states 'motorists will think twice before driving dangerously or inconsiderately.'
So there are problems with anti-social behaviour and dangerous driving and Westminster intends to 'cure' this by issuing PCNs ... for parking contraventions!

Now that Mr. Chalkley has identified the 'reasons' for the use of CCTV he needs to produce a copy of the Crime and Disorder strategy required under Sections 5 and 6 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
He will need to provide evidence of the anti-social behaviour and dangerous driving to which he refers and how his strategy will address this, along with details of the consultations he has held, or intends to hold, with the relevant Metropolitan Polce officers in order to not only reduce crime but also reduce the fear of crime.


100 extra CCTV cameras mean more parking fines in Westminster
David Williams,
Motoring Correspondent
08.03.10

The number of motorists fined for parking offences in central London will rise from today as 100 CCTV “spy” cameras are switched on.
The move follows a reprieve of nearly a year for drivers after the wireless cameras had to be switched off because they did not meet Department for Transport guidelines on image quality.
Westminster council has now fixed the £15 million digital network of cameras, increasing the pixellation, at a cost of £495,000 and had them re-certificated.

The software was also upgraded at an extra cost of £330,000.
The cameras go “live” today and the first parking fines will go out within days.

Officials say the cameras were responsible for around 20 per cent of parking fines in the borough prior to being switched off. Last year Westminster issued a total of 686,310 parking fines.
Click on the image below to see the full version

Today the council published an internet map revealing the location of each camera and said there will be “Street Enforcement Camera” signs at street level.

The cameras are in the West End, Belgravia, Trafalgar Square, Knightsbridge, Oxford Street and on central London's main bridges.

The cameras were meant to have been back online more than six months ago but it took longer than expected to gain official certification for the upgraded devices, the council said.
Danny Chalkley, Westminster's cabinet member for city management, said: “We have sought a fairer approach to parking enforcement and are committed to getting it right first time round. CCTV is an effective tool in ensuring this happens.
“Cameras in Westminster are used in areas where there are known problems with traffic and anti-social behaviour and we hope that by highlighting the locations of these cameras motorists will think twice before driving dangerously or inconsiderately.”

Bloomsbury street that makes £2.5m a year in traffic fines

London Evening Standard
11 January 2010
By Ellen Widdup

This is the most lucrative road in London for parking fines and traffic penalties — raking in up to £2.5 million a year.
Wardens and cameras in Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, which is only 500 yards long, have snared almost 23,000 drivers in the past 12 months — giving out fines of up to £120 a time.
A Standard investigation has found that the road is one of many fines hotspots in the capital. Wardens issued almost 29,000 penalties for contraventions in Station Road, Harrow.

But the council charges half the level of fines of Camden, which regulates traffic in Southampton Row, making its potential revenue £1.7 million a year.
Across London in the past year, almost four million penalties were issued to motorists. Other roads which regularly rake in more than £1 million a year include Ripple Road, Barking; Queensway; and Atlantic Road, Brixton.

Today parking campaigners accused councils of using drivers as “cash cows” and focusing on single roads with poor signage as “entrapment spots”.

Barrie Segal, founder of Appeal Now, a website that helps drivers fight unfair penalties, said: “There are a few reasons that some roads are much worse than others. Often it's road signage — one sign will contradict another so it will be confusing for the motorist. Sometimes it's poor road marking. The problem is there's no incentive for councils to correct this.”

Camden's parking wardens and cameras have caught drivers in Southampton Row for a variety of offences, including driving in a bus lane, making an illegal U-turn and parking illegally.

A spokeswoman said 90 per cent of the fines issued were for traffic offences and the rest for parking violations.
“Several major bus routes run along the road, so bus lanes must be kept clear at all times to prevent them being delayed,” she added. “It is important to ensure motorists follow regulations so traffic is able to move freely and safely.”

Westminster was the borough that issued the most penalties with 684,000.
Last year Prudence Fay, 69, won a case against the council after receiving a £120 fine based on photo evidence faked by a warden.

Danny Chalkley, Westminster's cabinet member for city management, said more than half a million vehicles entered the borough a day which was bound to result in a high number of offences: “Every penny of surplus income from parking is ploughed straight back into transport improvements,” he added.

'I've lost 30% of my business'

Ruggerro Acar, 51, owner of Verdi Ristorante:“Two years ago there were much more restrictive traffic wardens. Now the council's parking rules are not so bad. We need to be reasonable, to think of ourselves and other people.”

Nikki Cottrell, 30, manager of estate agent Frank Harris: “A couple of [contractors] would risk pulling over to pop in, and a couple have had tickets. It's a frustration. I have to get our deliveries taken to our Bloomsbury office.”

Alan Mays, 45, delivery driver for two firms:“Now the council's taken over [giving tickets] it's a lot worse. Now it's cameras or wardens and there's no discretion. They have to keep London flowing but it's a nightmare.”

Thomas Sacker, 66, owner of florist Bonnie Blooms:“I've lost 30 per cent of my business because people can't park. Even with people coming to pick up funeral flowers, they can't stop. It's money-motivated for councils.”

Top 10 hotspots for fines

1. Station Road, Harrow (Harrow) Fines: 28,884
2. Southampton Row (Camden) Fines: 22,275
3. Chiswick High Road (Hounslow) Fines: 18,668
4. Queensway (Westminster) Fines: 12,464
5. Ripple Road, Barking (Barking & Dagenham) Fines: 12,266
6. Herbert Road, Southall (Ealing) Fines: 9,645
7. Fore Street(Enfield) Fines: 8,789
8. Lea Bridge Road (Waltham Forest) Fines: 7,719
9. Uxbridge High Street (Hillingdon) Fines: 6,425
10. Golders Green Road (Barnet) Fines: 5,868
*Local authority in brackets.

One Nation Under Surveillance ... but not quite in Westminster

Questions need to be asked.

Who was responsible for this blunder?

Meanwhile, a comparison needs to be made of the number of crimes or incidents witnessed and subsequently detected by CCTV and the number of PCNs issued and paid. We will then understand the real reason for CCTV.


CCTV SWITCH OFF SPARKS CRIME FEARS
Camden New Journal
10 July 2009
West End Extra - by JAMIE WELHAM


Three-week surveillance blackout in £15million system ‘blunder’

THE entire network of central London’s wireless CCTV cameras will be switched off for three weeks sparking fears that hundreds of crimes will go undetected. The surveillance blackout, which it was hoped could be avoided, will start at the beginning of August, coming about because the council has been forced to upgrade more than 100 wireless cameras due to a bizarre legal ruling.

In a huge blunder, nobody at the council realised the brand new camera system fell short of government specifications when they purchased it for £15million. The cameras represent almost half of the authority’s CCTV network, and while principally used for parking enforcement, they are also used as a tool to tackle crime and disorder. Anxiety is rising ahead of the switch-off, with some fearing it could spell a boon time for criminals looking to exploit the blind spot in the surveillance panorama.It will cost the council £850,000 to upgrade the resolution, as well as thousands of pounds in lost earnings from parking cheats who can break the rules with virtual impunity.

Since the Department for Transport (DfT) pixel size regulations came into force on April 1, the less than a year-old £15million network, which monitors roads around the West End, Victoria, Bayswater, Marylebone, Oxford Street and Belgravia, has not been used for stationary parking enforcement, although it has been monitoring moving traffic contraventions, community protection and city management.

The council have been furiously lobbying the DfT since April to try to reach an agreement that would let the cameras stay as they are, but their pleas have been ignored. A report seen by the council’s city management and finance bosses says: “In order to meet the required resolution, a new digital encoding device will be installed in all wireless cameras. The works will involve: Remove all cameras from the street; Replace the existing digital encoders within the camera units; Test the camera; and Reinstall the cameras on street.”

The report goes on to say that all “archived video footage will be lost during the process”. The initial forecast for the shutdown was three months, but now the council claims it can be done in three weeks.

Karen Buck, MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North, said: “It is deeply worrying. Crimes will go undetected because of it. Clearly someone at the council has made a massive blunder here, and the taxpayers are paying for it.”

John Zamit, chairman of the South East Bayswater Residents Association, said: “We think it’s a disgrace. The only reason they are doing this is so they can raise more revenue from innocent pensioners stopping for three minutes on single yellow lines.”

The council has played down the decision, which was given the green light by cabinet member for city management Danny Chalkley and cabinet member for finance Melvyn Caplan earlier this month.

The council predicts it will make an £11.4m surplus from parking enforcement in 2009/10. Without cameras it would need to spend an extra £1.9m on parking wardens to make up the lost earnings. Under the DfT legislation, traffic cameras must be capable of recording at 720 x 576 pixels, but Westminster’s picture quality is 704 x 576 pixels.

Kevin Goad, Westminster Council’s assistant director of parking, said: “Despite having state-of-the-art parking cameras that use digital technology the DfT has advised that we carry out a software upgrade.“This will take between two to three weeks, during which these particular cameras will not be in use. We will have extra parking attendants on our streets to ensure motorists continue to park safely and sensibly. This work does not in any way affect our main CCTV network which is used to prevent crime and keep Westminster residents and visitors safe.”