Police Authority "Trust and Confidence" Meeting Backfires

I was baffled and bemused by the police authority meeting I attended on 4th August 2010. I'm not sure what the police authority were hoping to achieve, other than ticking the box to say they had "listened" to the views of local people.  They will no doubt use it as proof of their commitment to "engagement" with local communities about policing in the west midlands. Having ticked that box they will presumably carry on with whatever undemocratic and unaccountable processes they intend to pursue, since they don't appear to have even thought about the views and concerns of local people in the past and still show no signs of doing so even now. 


The stated purpose of the West Midlands Police Authority's public meeting was to hear people's views on 'Trust and Confidence in Policing' and how this might be improved. It was prompted by the public outcry over the attempted implementation of an unlawful mass surveillance scheme that targets two predominantly Muslim neighbourhoods of the city. 


Here is the police authority press release about that meeting on 4th August: 
http://www.west-midlands-pa.gov.uk/viewpr.asp?id=76&category=pressreleases


Bishop Derek Webley, Chair of the West Midlands Police Authority said he wanted to hear about how trust and confidence had been damaged by the spy camera fiasco but qualified that by saying the meeting was not about whether the cameras should stay or go.

“This is not a consultation but it is a chance to find out how about how the trust and confidence in the police have been affected. We could have done things differently. I’m not afraid to say that.”


Considering the purpose of the exercise was to "listen" to people's comments, Webley simply did far too much talking and not enough listening. Members of the public were frustrated with Webley's long-winded monologues and lack of contrition. He came across as a man who likes the sound of his own voice. He could happily talk all night yet say nothing of any meaningful consequence. Webley is a waffler and not the right person to conduct a "listening" exercise. He didn't even appear to have admit that mistakes had been made and at one point even disputed that an apology had been given over the fiasco. He showed a distinct lack of humility and was unapologetic throughout, repeatedly defending the actions of both the police and the police authority. In short, he got people's backs up and prompted people to spell things out to him in a very clear and direct manner. 

"You don't deserve our trust and confidence!" shouted one woman. "You're turning the country into a police state," shouted another man even louder. "You've got more cameras than Communist China!" he yelled, before walking out in disgust. Almost every audience member who spoke called emphatically for the cameras to be taken down. The message was loud and clear, but fearing this was falling on deaf ears and the meeting was a pointless exercise, the audience began chanting: "TAKE THEM DOWN!" 

Webley even questioned the meaning of one of the founding principles of the police force, set out by Robert Peel when he established the police force in 1829. "Policiing by consent does not mean 'with permission'", he explained, implying that the scheme could go ahead even if it is rejected and vehemently opposed by the two large communities it affects. What arrogance!

The meeting was reported on the BBC national TV news two days later: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10889773

The meeting was also filmed in full by 'We Are Change Birmingham' and has been made available to watch on YouTube in 5 parts:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeBrum?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/15/atbl9CSc56A

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeBrum?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/14/4sEFMS16KaI

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeBrum?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/13/e0ipfWuL4hg

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeBrum?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/12/8X1qZ02j2AQ

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeBrum?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/23/Q-xBVwBD6SY

The Birmingham Mail also reported on how tempers flared at meeting:
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2010/08/05/tempers-flare-at-meeting-over-birmingham-spy-cameras-97319-27001917/


There is also a report with the damning headline, "Birmingham CCTV system leaves police trust in tatters" on the BBC's national news website, here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10888985


The news reports prompted debate on the issue on BBC Radio WM and Radio 5 Live, who's Nicky Campbell held a phone-in discussion on CCTV camera surveillance. The programme is no longer available on the BBC'c iPlayer application, but comment and analysis of the points raised can be found on the website of national campaign group No CCTV, courtesy of the group's founder, Charles Farrier:
http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/blog/lively_radio_debate_shows_its_not_as_simple_as_cctv_cameras_or_crime.htm


Corinna Ferguson, a lawyer from human rights and civil liberties advocacy group, Liberty, was on BBC Breakfast TV all morning, explaining why the camera scheme is ill-conceived, unjust, unlawful and potentially counter productive. Sadly this was not made available on iPlayer, so there is no link to post. There is however, an article on the Guardian website, where Corinna explains the issue. "Why is Birmingham's CCTV scheme 'unlawful'?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/jul/06/birmingham-cctv-unlawful-liberty


In my view, the meeting did more harm than good. It did nothing to help restore the trust and confidence in the police among the communities targeted. It merely heightened the sense that our police are arrogant and unaccountable and consider themselves above the law. Far from performing the function of local police 'watchdog' the police authority is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover the feudal powers of the Chief Constable, whose bidding they appear to serve unquestioningly. Shame on you!


This tawdry episode shows quite clearly that our police authorities have failed in their remit; they do not hold the police to account nor do they exercise any form of scrutiny or oversight. The police authority is a 'toothless tiger': nothing more than a tame pet of the Chief Constable. Instead of holding our police chiefs to account, the police authority loyally and willingly do their bidding.  If ever there was an argument for elected police commissioners, this is it. Come in, West Midlands Police Authority, your time is up!

Great article by Kevin Meagher on political blog Left Foot Forward (29th June 2010):

"Theresa May is right to take on ACPO and reform the police"

"One of the immutable laws of British politics is that any hint at radical reform to British policing disappears without trace, entering a sort of Bermuda Triangle of public service reform, never to be seen again.

Back in 1993 Sir Patrick Sheehy recommended radical (and quite justified) restructuring to police ranks to cut costs and improve decision-making. The report was shelved. More recently, Charles Clarke’s more modest effort to reduce the number of police forces from 43 to 12, ending the ludicrous, duplicating, county constabulary system, met with a similar fate.

So current incumbent, Theresa May, deserves some credit for standing her ground this morning when she told police chiefs at the Association of Chief Police Officers conference in Manchester a few home truths about the need for them to modernise in the face of “big” budget cuts.

This followed leaked warnings from Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), that police numbers were not “sustainable”  in the face of home office budget cuts.

In her speech the home secretary announced a long overdue review of police terms and conditions, saying:

“It cannot be right, for example, that police overtime has become institutionalised. We may not win popularity contests for asking these difficult questions, but it is time for them to be asked.”

She also pledged a review into procurement, asking:

“Does it really make sense to buy in police cars, uniforms and IT systems in 43 different ways?”

Of course, Ms May is approaching police reform inadvertently – from the position of a dutiful minister with responsibility for spreading the pain of public spending cuts. But necessity is the mother of invention and the net result of her direction of travel should be a leaner, more modern and accountable police service – a result progressives should applaud.

And the Tories are on the right lines with elected police commissioners too. The sheer opacity of current police force governance makes a mockery of public accountability. Unelected police authorities made up of appointed councillors and lay people – who no-one elected and who pay minimal heed to the needs and wishes of their local communities – are little more than a fig leaf to preserve the feudal powers of chief constables.

At the very least, an elected commissioner provides a rallying point for local communities to focus on if their particular local priorities are not met. As the home secretary argued:

“It means a directly-elected individual at force level, setting the force budget, agreeing the local strategic plan, playing a role in wider questions of community safety and appointing – and if necessary removing – the local chief constable.”

But the police argue that stronger democratic control would skew operational matters, in a similar way to how some health professional argue targets in the NHS alter clinical priorities. But let’s be clear: policing, quite literally, is not brain surgery. The police’s job is, as the home secretary reminded them this morning, is to cut crime, “nothing more, and nothing less”.

But ACPO is a formidable opponent and adept at the political black arts that force politicians into headlong retreat. And little wonder with the high opinion it has of itself. Its Statement of Purpose claims that it “leads and coordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland”.

Now it’s fair enough for any professional body to want to be a collective voice for its profession, or to share best practice, but leading the “direction and development" of the police is surely a matter for Ministers and Parliament?

In fact, nowhere in its aims and objectives does it even talk about ‘best practice’. The truth is that ACPO is a producer interest group, pure and simple. And a powerful one too. It works to create a consensus for political inaction; fighting for greater autonomy for its members and vetoing any changes it doesn’t like.

So in a bid to ameliorate her hard message on budgets and reform, the home secretary foolishly caved-in on other issues, promising, for example, to scrap the 10-point policing pledge. She would have done better to stand her ground and demand ever greater customer focus from the police. They still face too few of the public guarantees now common to other public services, as the BBC’s home editor, Mark Easton, has pointed out.

But Ms May was more tactically adept in inviting ACPO to produce a “national plan for the way the service does business”. Either the police top brass comes up with its own cuts and reforms, or they have them imposed by the long arm of HM Treasury. It is perhaps ironic that it takes the threat of severe public spending cuts to kick start reforms that should have been made years ago.

And there’s a lot to do. Instead of pioneering moves to share back office services, redress the balance between police and civilian staff, increase the use of IT, or becoming more customer focused (have you ever tried emailing the police?) they are literally years behind the rest of the public sector.

A long, ignominious line of home office ministers have opted for a quiet life and done ACPO’s bidding. But for today at least, Ms May deserves two cheers for not being one of them. Her challenge, however, as always in government, is to turn rhetoric into action."

Link to the original article by Kevin Meagher: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/06/theresa-may-is-right-to-take-on-acpo-and-reform-the-police/

Muslims 'Angry And Betrayed' Over Spycams

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) UK, the UK’s leading Muslim Civil Liberties group, didn’t mince their words in this report on 23rd July 2010:


“After apologies and retractions for misleading, deceiving and lying to the Muslims of Birmingham, it seems the West midlands Police Authority (WMPA), have reverted to type, once again trying to deceive the Muslim community, by fixing an internal investigation.

On June 4th, in a Public Meeting , ACC Sharon Rowe of West Midlands Police, declared that she would personally takeover and lead on ‘Project Champion’. An investigation would be started into how the clearly anti-Muslim, anti libertarian project could come about the way it did, funded by money from the Home Office fund (ACPO-TAM) Terrorism and Allied Matters.

A fact the Police tried to hide from the relevant council officials, councillors and the general public, so much so that they decided to proceed with the project, without consultation of the community that the CCTV cameras would encircle and intern.

However, in a twist of Machiavellian proportions, the person chosen to investigate the whole debacle, is none other than Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Sara Thornton, who just happens to be Vice Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee (ACPO – TAM).

Fresh controversy and doubt has been thrown over the sincerity of the West Midlands Police, ACC Rowe’s apology, as well as her claim of a fair and independent investigation. Many in the community feel even angrier and even more betrayed. A resident of Sparkbrook said,

How dare they treat us like this, first they try to intern us and once they’re caught they cry their crocodile tears, apologise and just when we have breathed a sigh of relief, that our families and children won’t be spied on by the counter terrorism unit, they stab us in the back, by fixing the investigation. Never have I had lower regard and more mistrust of the police as I do now. Having been born and raised in this country, I am having to wake up to the reality that I am nothing but an alien, to be stigmatised, spied upon and tracked like some common criminal. I am disgusted at the betrayal of the Police and will never trust them, or give them any information in the future.”

MPACUK says enough is enough, how much longer can we as community be treated in such a manner? How much longer can we be cast aside by the Police? How much longer will we fail to engage and participate in the political process?

MPACUK asks all Muslims and non Muslims to lobby their mosques, councillors and MP’s to contact WMPA. To tell them of their disgust at the way an entire population of Muslims has been treated and the contempt and disregard, in which the so called ‘independent’ investigation is to take place.

MPACUK, applauds Green Lane Mosque for the progressive stance it has taken, regarding these cameras and inciting the believers to come out and take part in protests and demonstrations. MPACUK asks all other mosques and Imams to follow the lead of Green Lane and turn the moribund and dormant over 60′s clubs, knows as Masjids, into the heart of the campaign, to tear down these instruments of oppression and Islamophobia.”

Original article: http://www.mpacuk.org/story/220710/police-try-and-decieve-muslims-againin-cctv-debacle.html#ixzz0vaj5JaBu

Spycam Row Prompts Public Meeting Over "Loss Of Trust" in West Midlands Police

Invitation To Police Authority Meeting About 'Trust And Confidence' In Local Policing

30/07/2010

Chair of West Midlands Police Authority, Derek Webley, is inviting the public to a meeting at the Bordesley Centre, Stratford Road, Camp Hill, B11 4LJ, on Wednesday 4th August 2010, from 7pm to 9pm.

Derek Webley said,

“Effective policing is dependent on communities having trust and confidence in the police. The Authority, knowing the concerns which have arisen in some parts of the West Midlands from the proposed use of CCTV and ANPR cameras in connection with Project Champion, wants to listen to members of the public. The Authority wants to know how trust and confidence can be restored where this has been adversely affected.”

Derek went on,

“Project Champion is the subject of intense scrutiny. There is a review by Chief Constable Sara Thornton of Thames Valley Police, another review by the City Council’s Local Services and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee chaired by Councillor James Hutchings and there will also be an extensive consultation on the future of Project Champion. The Authority supports all this work, but the Authority also has its own role in listening to the public. This meeting is not about whether or not the Project Champion cameras should be switched on. This meeting is about understanding how trust and confidence has been adversely affected, and how it can be rebuilt by communities and the police working together.”

Click here for more information about West Midlands Police Authority.

Judicial Review 'Unnecessary", Say Police

West Midlands Police have rejected calls from civil liberties group, Liberty, for a high court judicial review of the legal issues the scheme presents, saying the move would not be necessary or appropriate now that that the public are to be consulted over the the future of the spycam scheme. Any such action, says the force legal officer, would cause delay and hamper attempts to reach a local community resolution to the deadlock.

The police have pledged to remove the 72 “covert” cameras that have been secretly installed in undisclosed locations amongst Birmingham’s two biggest Muslim communities for ‘anti-terror’ surveillance purposes. West Midlands police have also promised to conduct the Equalities Impact Assessment that it was required to carry out by law, but neglected to do before implementing the scheme.

More on this on The Stirrer website.

Authorities Under Fire Over Spycam Fiasco

The row over controversial surveillance cameras in parts of Birmingham reached new heights last month with the authorities coming under fire and increasing pressure to re-think the whole operation. Outraged local residents and campaigners have turned the tables on the watchers and it is now Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police who are under intense scrutiny over their involvement in the plan. The cameras have been covered up pending a full public consultation about their future. The boldly named Project Champion has become a PR disaster.

Last month hundreds of local people packed into the Bordesley Centre in Sparkbrook for a memorable public meeting, dubbed The Spycam Summit. In an extraordinary scene, Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Rowe, who has been drafted in to sort out the mess, apologised:

"Mistakes have been made. Mistakes have been made by West Midlands Police and I am sorry. I am truly sorry.” Ms Rowe pledged, “There will no longer be any involvement from the Counter Terrorism Unit” and “there will be no covert cameras in your neighbourhoods."

Keynote speaker at the event, Liberty’s Shami Chakrabarti, described the scheme as “Project Bonkers” and summed up with these words:

“This scheme isn’t just dangerous and divisive; it’s unlawful as well.” […] “You have rumbled something here in Birmingham… you have an opportunity here in Birmingham to set an example to the rest of Britain.”

Birmingham City Council has announced a full review by its Overview and Scrutiny Committee into Project Champion. There will also be an independent review into the role of West Midlands Police and their handling of the project. Chief Constable Sara Thornton of Thames Valley Police will carry out the review. Media commentators have slammed the move, questioning how “independent” the review will be, considering that Ms Thornton is the former Chair (and current Vice Chair) of the same ‘Terrorism and Allied Matters’ group that designed and funded the project in the first place.

The network of 216 cameras was designed to monitor Birmingham’s Muslim population with blanket surveillance. The network of surveillance equipment includes 144 Automatic Number Plate (ANPR) cameras, 12 of which are “dual-purpose” (combining ANPR and CCTV), 38 standard CCTV cameras, and 72 “covert” cameras hidden at secret locations.

Such intense police surveillance in residential areas is unique and believed to be the first operation of its kind in mainland Britain. The only precedent for the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to monitor entire communities in Britain was in Northern Ireland during “the troubles” to monitor the IRA and other political enemies. The Birmingham “spycam” scheme has similar political overtones: it was paid for with counter-terrorism funds, targets a specific (Muslim) community and appears to have little to do with tackling local crime.

It's all happening over on facebook

There will be more content added here in the next few days. In the meantime, for all the latest on this story please go to the facebook group, where the updates, comments, news, videos and photos are coming thick and fast. You don’t need a facebook account to view it. It’s open access: no user ID necessary, no password, just click on the link and you’re in.

There is also great reporting on The Stirrer website, so do look there too.

See you again in a few days : )

Spycam Summit - An Astounding Success

Yesterday’s public meeting was a truly incredible event, the like of which hasn’t been seen before anywhere in the UK. Impassioned speakers spoke out strongly against the controversial counter-terrorism surveillance scheme in Birmingham, which aims to intensively monitor the city’s two biggest Muslim communities – considered by the authorities be a terrorist threat.

Senior representatives from the police were forced into apologise to over 500 people who squeezed into the packed hall, and to whole communities over the mis-judged scheme that they had tried to implement in the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath areas of the city. Asst. Chief Constable Sharon Rowe promised to transfer ownership of the scheme from the counter terrorism unit to local police, who would be responsible for the cameras from now on. She also pledged that the 72 covert cameras included in the spy cam plan would be removed completely. The fate of the remaining cameras – approx 150 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and over 60 standard CCTV cameras would be decided by a full public consultation. But protesters at yesterday’s meeting felt this didn’t go far enough, and unanimously called for all the cameras to be removed BEFORE the consultation which should decide whether local people want any of these cameras in their communities.
Bags have now been placed over some of the cameras which will remain out of action until after the public have been consulted on their use.

The atmosphere was electric as Birmingham people from all backgrounds and communities came together to denounce the spy cam scheme. Special guests from national campaign groups spoke passionately on the multiple reasons why this dreadful plan must not go ahead. You can watch all the impassioned and inspiring speeches made at the Spy Cam summit on youTube :
Alex Deane from Big Brother Watch, one of several key speakers at the event gives an excellent write-up here.

Coverage of the event in today’s Birmingham Mail

Last night’s item on ITV Central News

Item on BBC News website

Sign the online petition and join the fight to ALL the surveillance cameras that form part of ‘Project Champion’ in Birmingham REMOVED.

Spycam Summit - A Public Rally, Sun 4th July 2010

“SPY CAM OUTCRY SPARKS PUBLIC RALLY”

A Public Rally in opposition to the controversial spy cam scheme in Birmingham will take place on Sunday 4th July starting at 4.30 pm at the Bordesley Centre, Camp Hill roundabout, Sparkbrook, Birmingham B11 1AR.

Opposition to a police surveillance operation recently introduced in parts of Birmingham has grown and grown, gaining national support from campaign groups concerned about the infringement of privacy and civil liberties. The human rights group, Liberty, is also mounting legal action over the case, which it says unfairly targets Muslim communities.

The Birmingham ‘Spy Cam’ row, as it’s become known, first came to light when 200 surveillance cameras – a quarter of which are “covert” and hidden in secret locations – were placed around the Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook areas of the city. Authorities claimed the cameras were for “community safety” to combat crime and anti-social behaviour in the area. It later emerged that a Home Office fund for “Terrorism and Allied Matters” paid for the scheme, a counter-terrorism operation focused on communities described as being “at risk of extremism”.

A coalition of groups and high-profile commentators will meet this Sunday for “SUMMIT TALKS” on the issue to demonstrate both the level of concern over the issue, and the breadth of support for the campaign to have them removed. The PUBLIC RALLY organised by grass roots coalition, ‘Birmingham Against Spy Cameras’, will bring together a diverse range of organisations, community groups, campaign groups, councillors, and local residents and individuals who strongly oppose the scheme and are calling for it to be scrapped.

A large turnout is expected (venue capacity is 500) and national media coverage is anticipated.
The event will be chaired and compered by broadcaster and journalist Adrian Goldberg (talkSport, BBC Radio WM, The Birmingham Mail, The Stirrer).



Keynote speakers at the event include: 


SHAMI CHAKRABARTI, Director of Liberty (the leading human rights and civil liberties organisation)


GARETH PEIRCE, top human rights lawyer (Birmingham 6, Guildford 4, Moazzam Begg and many more)

ALEX DEANE, (Director, Big Brother Watch)
LORD HUNT of Kings Heath
LORD NAZIR AHMED or Rotherham
REV. RAY GASTON (Methodist minister, Inter-faith enabler and author)


SALMA YAQOOB (Leader of the Respect Party and Councillor for Sparkbrook)


Plus Birmingham councillors from all parties and others to be confirmed. 


Plus senior representatives from:
West Midlands Police,
The Safer Birmingham Partnership,
Birmingham City Council

This meeting is supported by:
 Muslim Association of Britain, Birmingham Citizens, Cllr Salma Yaqoob, Cllr Tanveer Choudhry, Cllr Mohammed Ishtiaq, Cllr Jerry Evans, Cllr Emily Cox, Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cllr Mohammed Ansar, Cllr Shokat Ali, Cllr Ernie Hendricks, Roger Godsiff MP, Lian Byrne MP, Lynne Jones, Hear My Voice, AerosolArabic, No CCTV, Privacy International, Liberty, Young Muslims Advisory Group, Big Brother Watch, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Muslim Council of Britain, iChange, UKIM, Islamic Society of Britain, FOSIS, The Stirrer, South Asian Alliance, Socialist Workers Party, Unity FM, Muslim Women’s Network, Young Muslims UK, MPACUK, Shaheli Women’s Group, National Assembly Against Racism, Birmingham Trade Union Council, Unite 451, Third Sector Assembly . . . and many more.

Steve Jolly
Birmingham Against Spy Cameras (BASC)
Press: 07806 408 266

Countdown to Spycam Rally

A ‘Spycam Summit ‘ organised by Birmingham Against Spy Cameras on Sunday 4 July at 4.30 pm will take place at The Bordesley Centre, Stratford Road, Camp Hill, BIrmingham B11 1AR.

This is a public event and all are welcome so please come and show your support for communities in Birmingham, stand up for our civil liberties in Britain and oppose the mass surveillance of ordinary citizens.

Keynote speakers include :

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights and civil liberties organisation, Liberty
Gareth Pierce, human rights lawyer whose high profile clients include the Birmingham Six, the Tipton Three, the Guildford Four, former MI5 operative David Shayler, Abu Qatada (who has been called ‘Europe’s Al-QaedaAmbassador’), Judith Ward, Mouloud Sihali, the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, Moazzam Begg, Bisher Amin Khalil al-Rawi, a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and a group (led by Jim Swire) of UK relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing.
Alex Deane, Director of Big Brother Watch, the national group campaigning against excessive surveillance by the state.
Salma Yaqoob, Leader of the Respect Party and Sparkbrook Councillor
Ray Gaston, Methodist minister, Inter-faith enabler and author of ‘A Heart Broken Open’
Lynne Jones, former Birmingham MP
Councillors for Springhill, Tanveer Chaudhry and Jerry Evans,
Alan Rudge, Birmingham City Council
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham
Sharon Rowe, Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police
Jackie Russell, Director of the Safer Birmingham Partnership,

A large turnout is expected and media coverage is anticipated.

Birmingham's spycam scheme has had its cover blown

“My campaign has helped expose ‘Project Champion’ for what it really is: ill-conceived, botched and counter-productive."

"The row over hundreds of surveillance cameras quietly installed to spy on whole communities in Birmingham – including my own – has grown louder and louder, forcing a halt to the scheme that now hangs suspended, dangling in mid-crisis just like the unwanted cameras. "Project Champion" now looks like a real loser.

The offending lenses will be covered over with bags, we are told, and a full public consultation will follow. Liberty is mounting a legal challenge and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will be investigating West Midlands police over whether they briefed or misled local councillors. My MP, Roger Godsiff, has tabled a debate in parliament and John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, informed me he has raised the issue with the home secretary.

This is quite a result for the campaign I started only two months ago. Along with a few other local residents and councillors who were also alert enough to have concerns and ask questions about the scheme, we have succeeded in exposing a major counterterrorism operation for what it is: ill conceived, poorly implemented, botched and – worst of all – potentially counterproductive.

Surely the plan to spy on whole communities in Birmingham could not have remained secret for long. The camera posts are hardly invisible: they resemble machine-gun turrets and are everywhere. And yet Britain is a society so used to the proliferation of CCTV cameras that they have become just part of our street furniture and are regarded as normal. All those other cameras act as camouflage; would anyone notice a few more? They are everywhere we look, except we have become sufficiently inured that we just don't see them any more. For that reason the whole affair could well have gone unnoticed and slipped under the radar, as intended.

The police strategy appears to have relied on the idea that nobody would notice a few hundred more cameras. After all, the population has been hoodwinked into believing these things are substitute police officers, a panacea for all types of crime, and that support for CCTV is somehow linked to good citizenship. Surely the only privacy-loving miscreants who would object to their every move being tracked and recorded on a database must be criminals? After all, if you were not doing anything wrong, why would you mind? These dangerous assumptions are wrong and must be challenged. It's worrying that few people I've spoken to recently seem to know what the words "civil liberties" mean. Fewer still will stand up and fight to protect them. "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance", it's said, and never was that truer than right now in Birmingham.

Watching Nick Clegg's political reform speech on TV in May was a defining moment in my campaign. When the deputy prime minister promised that his government would "end the culture of spying on its citizens" I cheered as if England had just scored a goal. "Britain must not be a country where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question." Back of the net! It was as though I had written it myself.

I set up a Facebook group and a website to launch my campaign, then I wrote an article for a local magazine, started a petition and lobbied MPs and councillors to denounce the spy-cam scheme. After passing the story to Paul Lewis, at the Guardian, and Liberty I found I had officially become an activist, the leader and spokesman for the campaign to have the cameras removed. The campaign group, NO CCTV also contacted me. They had been following my campaign and were behind me all the way, offering support and useful information.

After I was quoted in two Guardian articles my phone did not stop ringing and I soon found myself at the centre of the storm, campaigning on local and national radio and television culminating in five media appearances in one day. It is safe to say now that the truth is out, but whether the spy-cam scheme will be abandoned remains to be seen.

Civil libertarians should watch with interest to see what happens next in Birmingham, as it has grave implications for the relationship between the state and the private individual. I suspect that apart from the home secretary, there is only one other person with the power to order a stop to this. So if you're listening, Nick Clegg, come to Birmingham's aid and restore our civil liberties, as you promised. It's an open goal and now is your chance to score."

The Guardian asked if I would write a few words about this campaign for the Liberty Central section of their website. And I was only too happy to oblige. For the full article go here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/steve-jolly

Article originally published on the Guardian website and posted on my old blog www.spyonmoseley.co.uk 23rd June 2010. (Re-posted here on 1st August 2010).

After a collaborative investigation with award-winning journalist, Paul Lewis, we nailed the story, which first broke nationally in The Guardian on 4th June 2010, sparking a series of Guardian articles, listed here in reverse chronological order:

18th June 2010: 'Police under fire over Muslim CTV surveillance scheme'

17th June 2010: 'Birmingham stops Muslim CCTV surveillance scheme'

17th June 2010: 'Birmingham stops camera surveillance in Muslim areas'

11th June 2010: 'Legal Fight over spy cameras in Muslim suburbs'

4th June 2010: 'Surveillance cameras spring up in Muslim areas - the targets? Terrorists'

4th June 2010: 'Surveillance cameras in Birmingham track Muslims' every move'

The story first came to public attention on 19th April 2010 on Birmingham news website, The Stirrer, run by local journalist and broadcaster, Adrian Goldberg.

The Stirrer was contacted by a Moseley resident who questioned the unexplained installation of CCTV cameras in Moseley, Birmingham - a suburb neighbouring the 'Balti Triangle' area of Sparkbrook, Birmingham. Local resident Chris Jones wrote an open letter to his local councillors, published here on The Stirrer website: 'CCTV - The Unanswered Questions' sparking a series of articles on the subject, starting here: The Stirrer - 'CCTV Articles 1' and continuing here: The Stirrer - 'CCTV Articles 2' and here:
The Stirrer - 'CCTV Articles 3'

Can You Hear Us Yet, Nick Clegg?

This campaign will continue. We’re taking this right to the door of the Deputy Prime Minister, who raised concerns about the surveillance society and the erosion of our civil liberties in his Political Reform Speech of 19th May 2010.

More details on The Stirrer: 'Spycam Fight Will Go To Clegg'.

*NEWSFLASH* Project Halted Pending Full Consultation

A press statement was issued this afternoon (Wed 16th June) on behalf of Safer Birmingham Partnership, Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police, following today’s meeting to review the future of Project Champion:

A full and in-depth public consultation into the implementation of Project Champion – a network of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras east of Birmingham city centre – is to take place.
The announcement follows a meeting between the Safer Birmingham Partnership (SBP), West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council, to discuss concerns raised at recent public meetings, in local and national media and criticism about levels of consultation.

The initiative – financed by Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) Terrorism and Allied Matters (TAM) – is a network of 169 ANPR and 49 CCTV cameras predominantly in Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath. The project, which was supported by SBP for the wider crime reduction benefits it would bring to the area, will not now be switched on until the results of the public consultation are known and analysed. In addition, bags will be placed over the cameras to provide reassurance to local communities that footage is not being captured.

A joint statement on behalf of Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport of West Midlands Police, Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council and Jackie Russell, Director of Safer Birmingham Partnership says:

“A number of issues have been raised in relation to Project Champion and we believe it is right to give local people a chance to express their views. We are hearing both positive and negative opinions and we need to formally capture these and report them back.”

“It is important that the facts surrounding the reasons for installing the cameras and the benefits they can bring are made clear. We completely accept that earlier consultation with councillors from Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath – the main focus of the project – should also have included elected representatives from all other areas affected. We also accept that we should have been more explicit about the role of the Counter Terrorism Unit in the initial project management of Champion. Although the Counter Terrorism Unit was responsible for identifying and securing central government funds, and have overseen the technical aspects of the installation, the camera sites were chosen on the basis of general crime data – not just counter terrorism intelligence.”

“Day to day management of the network was always intended to become the responsibility of local police. We apologise for these mistakes, which regrettably may have undermined public confidence in the Police and the Council. Public safety is a primary concern and, having seen the benefits that existing ANPR and CCTV networks have brought to other areas of Birmingham, we remain confident that the inclusion of these new sites will further reduce crime and anti-social behaviour at all levels.”

“Details of the length of the consultation and how members of the public can lodge their views will be announced shortly.”

——– ENDS ——-

Project Champion Looks Like A Loser

Liberty mounts legal challenge and MPs condemn the scheme to spy on residential neighbourhoods with ANPR and covert CCTV cameras, The Guardian reports.

Angry Scenes As Residents Unite Against Spycam Scheme

Every single councillor at last night’s constituency council meeting (Tuesday 8th June) and the entire audience united in calling for the surveillance camera scheme to be scrapped. We all united in condemnation of the unwanted spy cameras put up in our neighbourhoods to track our every move. The whole room was unanimous in their outrage and over this gross assault on our civil liberties; it was democracy in action. People from the communities affected came and spoke out in the strongest possible terms.

We totally trounced the Safer Birmingham Partnership and West Midlands police. They were broken and beaten and they must be going away for a major re-think of this ill-conceived plan that has clearly backfired.

This issue isn’t going to go away, but maybe the cameras will. We can win this. Our lawyer from Liberty stood up and said they would be mounting a legal challenge. The whole thing’s illegal. And NOBODY wants it. We’re gonna get these things removed.

Local Issue or national disgrace?

This is not just a ‘local’ issue. This scheme has grave implications for people all across Birmingham and for civil liberties in Britain today. And judging by Nick Clegg’s Political Reform Speech on 19th May, our new Deputy Prime Minister clearly agrees:

19th Mat 2010 Political Reform speech, Part 1. (starts 2 min, 30 secs in).

19th May 2010 Political Reform speech, Part 2.

Unlike other CCTV schemes, this one has an altogether different and far more sinister purpose: it is connected to the government’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ agenda, or ‘Prevent’ for short. The Home Office funding came from the counter-terrorism budget of ACPO (TAM) – an acronym that stands for ‘Association of Chief Police Officers (Terrorism and Allied Matters)’.

Project Champion is a surveillance exercise which utilises a grid of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras which now encircles the predominantly Muslim areas of the city, notably Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath Wards. There are also nine camera points in Moseley, where this campaign of opposition began – hence the name of my original blog www.spyonmoseley.co.uk. It should be noted that opposition to this scheme is not limited to a few Moseley residents, but is a much wider issue.

These spy cameras will record every vehicle entering or leaving a zone that has been designated as Birmingham’s ‘Terrorist Quarter’. This is a Home Office initiative from central government. Big Brother is watching you. Especially if you are Muslim, or just happen to live in Birmingham’s “terrorist ghetto.”