Birmingham agencies put CCTV project on hold

A controversial CCTV project in Birmingham has been put on hold after a string of complaints.

Project Champion – a network of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and closed circuit television – involved the setting-up of 169 ANPR and 49 CCTV cameras predominantly in the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath areas of the city. Both areas have large Muslim populations.

The project will not now be switched on until after a public consultation. Plastic bags will be placed over the cameras in a bid to reassure local communities that footage is not being captured.

In a joint statement from Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport of West Midlands Police, Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, and  Jackie Russell, Director of Safer Birmingham Partnership said: “A number of issues have been raised in relation to Project Champion and we believe it is right to give local people a chance to express their views.

“We are hearing both positive and negative opinions and we need to formally capture these and report them back. It is important that the facts surrounding the reasons for installing the cameras and the benefits they can bring are made clear.”

The statement added that the agencies “completely” accepted that earlier consultation with councillors from Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath should also have included elected representatives from other areas affected.

“We also accept that we should have been more explicit about the role of the Counter Terrorism Unit in the initial project management of Champion,” it added.

The statement insisted that the camera sites were chosen on the basis of general crime data, and not just counter terrorism intelligence. Day-to-day management of the network was always intended to become the responsibility of local police, it added.

The agencies said: “We apologise for these mistakes, which regrettably may have undermined public confidence in the police and the council.”