The announcement of nearly £1 million from the Home Office to allow Bradford to install more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around the city centre is excellent news. The need for such cameras was identified as a high priority by the Crime and Disorder Partnership which last year drew up a strategy for tackling criminal behaviour in the district.

The 22 new cameras will help to reduce the fear of crime which deters some people from coming to shop in central Bradford. They will be focused on vulnerable sites such as car parks, subways and Centenary Square. There will also be new equipment installed in Keighley, Bingley and Shipley, which should make an important contribution to improving the quality of life for law-abiding people in those towns.

The new installations will not be welcomed by everyone, not least some civil rights protesters who claim that such schemes have little impact on crime and denounce them as a tool of those who want to control society.

Admittedly some people might be uneasy at the thought of being constantly under surveillance as they walk about the streets. But CCTV has been proven to be both a deterrent to crime and an aid to the detection and conviction of criminals.

Those who do nothing wrong have nothing to fear, although it is important that the management processes of the scheme are free from secrecy and that the operation of the cameras is open to scrutiny by inspectors who are independent of both the Council and the police.

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