Private staff with bodycams to enforce street litter laws

BODYCAM wearing litter wardens will be monitoring Kirklees’ streets in the near future.

Kirklees Council has given the green light for a 12 month trial project.

A private firm – which has not yet been named – has been selected to dish out fines to people who break environmental laws, including littering, dog fouling and a range of other highway related offences.

Staff will wear bodycams to film evidence of offences taking place.

Deputy leader, Clr Shabir Pandor, said he welcomed the move, adding that the new workforce could tackle issues the council had not had the resources for, including illegal selling of cars on the public highway.

But Charles Farrier, spokesperson for campaign group ‘No CCTV’, warned the move could lead to problems.

He said: “Equipping ‘Litter Stasi’ environmental wardens with bodycams to spy on Huddersfield residents is as ludicrous as it is creepy.

“These robo-wardens will further undermine trust in local authorities, whilst also highlighting the contempt they have for the general public.”

Mr Farrier said a recent study had found that bodycams caused confrontational incidents to escalate.

The research, published by the University of Cambridge last May, claimed there were 15% more incidents of assaults against police when bodycams were worn.