From: Rusty�Bullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sunday Times 13.8.00 Street cameras turn tables on police behaving badly Jack Grimston and Tom Robbins FOOTAGE from closed-circuit television cameras designed to fight criminals is instead being used as evidence against police officers in 1,000 cases a year. The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) is becoming increasingly reliant on CCTV in its investigations into police brutality, racism and procedural irregularities. Cameras in public places such as streets, shopping centres, shops and pubs, and within the walls of police stations, were last year used to uphold nearly 300 complaints against officers. Two policemen were given jail sentences last month after cameras in Bedford town centre caught them administering what the magistrate called "a punishment beating". PCs Steve Watson and Barry Vardon apparently did not notice that they were being filmed as they assaulted Peter Crane, a 28-year-old tree surgeon. The footage shows Crane running down the street as he flees a gang of 10 men who had attacked him and a friend. When approached by police he stops, is grabbed around the neck and thrown to the ground. The film shows him pinned to the pavement, being punched in the face and kneed in the stomach by the policemen. Crane was then held in custody for 18 hours and charged with assaulting the officers, but the case was subsequently thrown out of court. The officers are now suspended on full pay until the outcome of an appeal against their conviction, which begins next month. Crane's father, Brian, a retired police officer, said last week that his son was planning to launch a civil action for assault, malicious prosecution and wrongful or unnecessary imprisonment. "Peter is okay physically, but it has hit him mentally," he said. Britain now has an estimated 1m CCTV cameras on its streets, more per person that anywhere else in the world. "It has been used to tackle crime, but one side-effect has been that it makes it much easier to deal with police complaints," said Richard Offer, spokesman for the PCA. "It is giving citizens protection against errant officers, and officers protection on malicious complaints. It is certainly a valuable tool." Earlier this year, 16 riot squad officers were severely criticised by the PCA after cameras in a Wetherspoons pub in Manchester city centre caught them using batons to beat football fans who had been drinking quietly. At least six people were injured in the attack, including a retired police inspector. Graham Helling, 44, training policy and strategy manager for Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, who was beaten in the attack, has now launched a legal action to sue for damages. "Our initial reaction was shock, quickly followed by outrage. I'm sure the police had advised the pub to install [the camera] so they could use it for prosecutions, but sometimes it works both ways." In another case, PC Simon Finney was filmed shouting and pointing a canister of CS spray into the face of staff in a takeaway restaurant in Coventry. The video did not show any of the staff acting aggressively during the incident, which had begun with Finney asking for the restaurant owner's car to be moved from the pavement outside. In an internal inquiry, Finney admitted four charges of abuse of authority and was fined L400. Critics have long viewed internal police investigations with suspicion and suspect officers of dealing leniently their own kind. Serious complaints against police officers are referred to the PCA, who assign policemen from other forces to investigate. The PCA is recommending that all police forces install cameras in cells. Eleven have now installed CCTV in some areas, and 14 more are considering their introduction, as chief police officers turn to the objectivity of cameras as a means of restoring public confidence. Tom Lloyd, deputy chief constable of Cambridgeshire, said he might install cameras in all custody areas after Paul Banfield, a former custody sergeant, was convicted of raping and indecently assaulting women while on duty. He began an 18-year prison sentence in June. Earlier this year, Kilburn police station in London became the first in the country to install cameras in every cell, at a cost of L45,000. The move followed the case of Marlon Downes, who was found hanging in a cell in nearby Harlesden police station in 1997. Between April and December last year, 35 people died in custody in England and Wales, compared with 47 during the same period the previous year. However, there remain concerns about whether the camera can lie. Caroline Mitchell, a member of the PCA, said: "You have to be very careful using outside footage, as you are not necessarily getting the full story. In one incident earlier this year, I saw an apparently vicious beating, but you couldn't see that, behind the camera, a riot was going on." Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
