A senior police officer has warned that the UK risks become an “Orwellian” society as CCTV spreads to areas with low crime levels.
The deputy chief constable of Hampshire, Ian Readhead, said yesterday he did not want to live in a country where every street corner was fitted with surveillance devices.
Mr Readhead highlighted the town of Stockbridge in Hampshire’s rural Test Valley, where parish councillors spent GB pound 10,000 installing CCTV, as an example of a situation where the benefits of surveillance were questionable.
– The Guardian
A 34-year-old man who was being questioned by anti-terror officers investigating the July 7 bombings has been charged with possessing an al-Qaida training manual.
Khalid Khaliq, from Beeston, Leeds, is accused of possessing “a document or record, namely the al-Qaida training manual, containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” on July 17 2005, according to Scotland Yard.
Mr Khaliq, the fourth man to be charged in connection with the attacks, will appear at City of Westminster magistrates today.
– The Guardian
Council workers, charity staff and doctors will be required to tip off police about anyone whom they believe could commit a violent crime, under secret Home Office plans.
The draft set of proposals on “multi-agency information sharing” was circulated around Whitehall by Simon King, head of the violent crime unit at the Home Office. The document states: “Public bodies will have access to valuable information about people at risk of becoming either perpetrators or victims of serious violence. Professionals will obviously alert police or other relevant authority if they have good reason to believe [an] act of serious violence is about to be committed. However, our proposal goes beyond that, and is that, when they become sufficiently concerned about an individual, they must consider initial risk assessment of risk to/from that person, and refer [the] case to [a] multi-agency body.”
It suggests that two new agencies – one for potential criminals, the other for potential victims – might be created to collate reports from the front line and carry out “full risk assessments”.
– The Times
Whether transporting large amounts of cash, valuables or guarding high-profile prisoners, there is money to be made. And Group 4 Securicor (G4S) proved as much when it delivered a bullish update on first-quarter trading this week.
– Financial Times
