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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 25 October 2007

Privatised wardens a licence to extract money

• IN his excellent opinion piece on the postal strike, Tony Benn highlights the contradiction embedded in the desperate lengths to which the authorities will go to make everything – including public services – turn a profit (Behind the strikes, a big issue: must everything turn a profit, October 18).
He asks rhetorically (and sarcastically), “what about establishing low-cost private police forces to challenge the ‘police monopoly’?”
Unfortunately, in one area of law enforcement this has already happened.
Thirty years ago parking enforcement was the responsibility of the police until they decided it was too time- consuming and the traffic warden was invented.
Traffic wardens were directly employed by local authorities and issued tickets to motorists who parked illegally. They did not have “targets” and were not expected to make a profit.
In due course parking enforcement was privatised and the companies awarded these contracts were actively encouraged to extort as much money as possible from the public – a challenge they embraced with glee.
So what was once part of law enforcement inexorably became part of the corporate maw with a licence to extract money from the public more or less at will.
Furthermore, when they indemnified themselves and their new friends against the consequences of their activities, the authorities made sure they are not only part of the law but also above it.
If this is legal – or they simply get away with it – I wonder what other juicy areas of law enforcement they will be drooling over next?
Martin Kennedy
Brewer Street, W1
q I am infuriated, and justifiably so! A week ago I was issued with a parking fine of a leg-wobbling £120 on my eco-friendly Prius while it was standing in my street with, and this is the extraordinary fact, all the correct parking permits clearly displayed!
Now I’d understand if there had been nothing in the window but this is just ridiculous! I was told that the parking attendant who issued this permit noted that all the parking info was in place.
Yet he had the audacity to issue the fine regardless. Correct me if I’m wrong but that is an act of senseless idiocy.
Camden Council is making staggering sums of money from parking fines.
Last year it was in the region of £40 million, so it’s not like they are short of cash and opportunities to fine people. This is just stupidity on behalf of the attendant and the council’s parking sector. If anyone can enlighten me on the reason for this fine, please feel free to do so as I’m truly baffled! Maybe the attendant was just too lazy to move his eyes three centimetres to the left and read some more numbers, I really don’t know!
KATYA GOLOUBEVA
Winscombe Street, N19

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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