Councils use Big Brother anti-terror law to wage war on dog shit
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), part of the government’s anti-terror drive, gave councils the power to use surveillance and to access phone and e-mail records. It’s also the law that makes BT’s plans to monitor every website its customers visit, in order to place targeted advertisements, illegal. Not that BT gives a damn. It’s happy to flout the law, because it’s big enough for the law not to be applied to it by its political allies. The RIPA was allegedly brought in to help fight terrorism, but Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton has written to councils warning them that overzealous use of the powers could alienate the public, and not to use the anti-terror law for ‘trivial offences’ such as dog fouling.
Wyre Council in Lancashire believes dog shit to be at least as important to tackle as terrorists, if not more so. It has used hidden cameras to catch people who let their dogs foul public places, an action chief executive Jim Corey said was justified. “Certainly the reaction from the local population about the work has been nothing but complimentary,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Dog fouling is at the top of their list in terms of issues they want the council to be tackling on the ground, so I know the public are only too pleased to see us catching people.”
tags: anti-terrorism, Big Brother, crime, crowds, democracy, dog shit, elections, ignorance, law, legislation, street cleaning, votes
