Surveillance RSS feed for the Surveillance tag
found 19 stories.
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The Mushroom 2 Nov 10
He paced his office in the Lubyanka. His footsteps echoing on floor, He was deep in thought… Why couldn’t they understand? What was it about them they made them so selfish and self-absorbed? Hadn’t he explained, hadn’t he told them only a few months ago how hard he was working on their behalf …for less than £1.70 an hour!!!
They had laughed at him, but he had borne it well. They had said he was getting nearly £30,000 while other inmates were getting less than half that. But he’d stood his ground, he knew they went home at night; they had weekends off, while he worked 49 hours a day, 365 days a year. He hadn’t been out of this barren room in years, not even for the Masonic lodge’s OAP Christmas dinner. Oh, how he missed the taste of pensioner…
News
The Stirrer 3 Aug 10
Walsall Council boss Mike Bird has vowed to carry on using controversial anti-terrorism powers to spy on lead-swinging staff and benefit cheats – even though one local authority has been ticked off for abusing the powers when it checked up on parents seeking to gain entry for their children to a highly rated school.
Poole Council snooped on parents Jenny Paton and Tim Joyce using RIPA – the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act – when it suspected them of lying about their address to get into the catchment area for the school of their choice…
News
Express & Star 30 Jul 10
Surveillance powers were used by councils across the Black Country to crack counterfeit scams, benefit fraud and clamp down on anti-social behaviour in the last two years.
Walsall Council used the act – which was initially designed to fight terrorism – most, with 216 instances for the financial years between 2008 and 2010 to investigate anti-social behaviour, benefit fraud and trading standards operations…
News
Express & Star 16 Jul 10
A man who dumped asbestos by the side of a road in the Black Country has been warned he faces jail. Traveller Lawrence Rooney, aged 21, from Willenhall, off-loaded the dangerous material from a van in Murdoch Road, Bilston.
Surveillance cameras also caught the father-of-two dumping timber and conifer clippings at the same spot, Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard yesterday…
Comment
Walsall Licensing 5 Jul 10
Over the past ten years, the night-time economy in Walsall has developed and the town centre is now recognised as one of the favourite places for young people in the West Midlands to visit at the weekend.
Part of the attraction is that people consider Walsall to be a safe place to visit. This feeling hasn’t come about by accident, it is as a result of a lot of work from the police, the local authority, the fire service and businesses in the town.
Ten years ago it was a different story. The following video was compiled from CCTV footage taken in Walsall. Some people may find the scenes disturbing, so don’t watch if you think you may be upset by it.
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The Stirrer 27 May 10
Residents of Walsall are the third most likely in Britain to be snooped upon by Town Hall officials, but that doesn’t trouble Council leader Mike Bird – in an astonishing interview this week he said he was aiming for top spot. He’s now been given a national “Bad Boy” award and been compared to M in James Bond.
According to pressure group Big Brother Watch Walsall Council has authorised 215 covert surveillance operations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in the last two years – just 16 fewer than Newcastle-upon-Tyne which came top with 231…
Comment
The Plastic Hippo 27 May 10
Pub quiz teams across the nation are seldom fooled by the question that asks them to name all the actors who have portrayed James Bond. After carefully adding “Bob Holness, radio, 1956” to the answer sheet, they will smugly smile and take another sip of lager. But now the bar-room egg-heads have another name to consider, our very own council leader Mike Bird.
Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch have used freedom of information requests to compile a league table of local authorities who spy on residents and their own council staff. Walsall Council came third after running 215 covert surveillance operations in two years using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
News
Steve Bradley B'ham Mail 25 May 10
Walsall Council has defended its record on spying on residents after an angry pressure group placed it third in a national snooping list.
The authority has been criticised by activist organisation Big Brother Watch for carrying out covert surveillance on locals 215 times from April 2008 to April 2010…
News
LocalGov.co.uk 24 May 10
Local government is authorising 11 surveillance operations a day under powers afforded in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), according to new research.
The findings come from the Big Brother Watch group, which welcomed the coalition government’s pledge to ban the use of RIPA powers by councils unless signed off by a magistrate to stop serious crime.
The report brands Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council the biggest offender, having ‘spied’ on its residents 231 times during the last two years. West Berkshire and Walsall follow closely behind with 228 and 215 authorisations respectively…
News
Express & Star 17 Apr 10
School-run parents who park illegally face fines of £30 or being taken to court if they are caught out by a spy car that could be operating in the West Midlands later this year. Several councils are already considering joining a scheme aimed at stopping parents parking dangerously outside schools to drop off or pick up their children.
Steve Pretty, Walsall Council’s head of engineering and transportation, said the use of the vehicle has been discussed at the West Midlands Parking Managers Group and options are currently being considered as to how it could be operated and co-ordinated across the region…