Council officials given body cameras to enforce fines

BODY cameras have been issued to thousands of local council officials who issue fines for dog fouling, littering and breaking recycling rules, an investigation has found.

More than half of town halls have kitted out staff with the equipment, spending just under £1.8 million on 3,760 cameras, research by Big Brother Watch discovered.

Hundreds of Freedom of Information requests were sent to local government. They found that 227 councils are using, trialling or have used body-worn cameras in at least one department.

The investigation also discovered that 48 local authorities hold footage for longer than 31 days.

The research indicates that cameras are most commonly used by traffic enforcement officials and staff tasked with tackling litter and other environmental issues. They have also been issued to dog wardens and health and safety officers, the report added.

The privacy campaign group said the use of the cameras to protect personnel from verbal or physical abuse may be valid, and they can be a useful tool for safety and transparency.

But it argued that equipping officials with them to issue penalties for lowlevel behaviour such as littering and parking offences was a “disproportionate use of an intrusive surveillance capability” and “a potential breach of the privacy of law-abiding citizens”.

Renate Samson, chief executive of Big Brother Watch, said: “Despite repeated warnings about misuse of surveillance powers, we have found that once again councils are choosing to use powerful law enforcement tools with little consideration of privacy.

“Using body-worn cameras to protect people’s safety is one thing, but widespread filming of people’s behaviour in order to issue fines is simply not proportionate.”

Body-worn cameras are increasingly used in policing and have been adopted by local authorities for a number of years.

The Local Government Association said: “Councils make every effort to take a proportionate approach.”