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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 4 July 2008

No place for ‘snoopers’

• YOUR front page story (Parking CCTV ‘snooped in on bedroom’, June 27) induces the usual wave of nausea and disgust at the antics of Westminster’s enforcement personnel as they indulge in their latest hobby – freelance voyeurism.
The excuse that cameras “would automatically blur out when passing over residents’ rooms” is contemptible bulls***. Are these bedroom-window-sensitive cameras then? This is the kind of pathetic excuse blurted out by teenage boys caught doing something embarrassing.
Presumably those operating these cameras have been Criminal Records Bureau checked to make sure that none of them is on the sex offenders register – surely a minimum requirement for officials with such intimate access to our lives.
Perhaps Westminster would like to confirm this – or will it take yet another Freedom of Information inquiry to prise this out of them?
Surely the personalities attracted to this kind of work would be better off deploying their distasteful expertise somewhere where it would be more appreciated – Guantanamo Bay or the prison-camp that is North Korea perhaps.
We do not need them here.
Martin Kennedy, Brewer Street, W1

CCTV privacy

• WE acknowledge that there is growing public concern about the use of CCTV to enforce parking and following our recent parking summit we have introduced privacy zones on all parking cameras to ensure that all first floor and above windows cannot be viewed by a camera (Parking CCTV ‘snooped in on bedroom’, June 27).
Contrary to the article’s claims, there has been no increase in parking revenue because of CCTV enforcement and it is only used where there are known traffic problems or risks to the safety of our staff.
We will also be carrying out further reviews to ensure that we maintain an agreed level of governance with independent monitoring of imagery and also list camera locations on our website to ensure that the way in which CCTV is used in Westminster addresses concerns raised both locally and nationally.
CLLR DANNY CHALKEY
Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Westminster City Council

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. 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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