CI Colin Paine, the tweeting policeman of West Oxfordshire

A version of this article appeared in Chipping Norton News, March 2012

Chipping Norton’s neighbourhood and community support police officers are opening an account on Twitter.


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The biggest council CCTV spenders per resident: Westminster… then Tamworth

Big Brother Watch’s newly-released data on £515m of council CCTV spending between 2007 and 2011 (covered by my colleague Sade Laja on Guardian Government Computing) is even more interesting when combined with population numbers. Obviously, camera spending per capita is not a perfect measure, as some areas clearly have security needs beyond those of their immediate populations. This would help to explain why Westminster is the biggest spender per head of population: £46.75 over the last four years, compared to a UK average of £8.27.
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Open up the numberplate recognition camera system

Police are reluctant to reveal locations of automatic numberplate recognition cameras, but their secretive approach is not working

This decision was reversed by a later tribunal in 2012, but the evidence shed new light on police ANPR systems, covered in this Guardian article. Continue reading “Open up the numberplate recognition camera system”