Minor 'crimes' of the middle classes raking in a £400m fortune for cash-hungry councils
Published
18th Jan 2010
More than £400million a year is being raised by police and town halls targeting minor 'middle-class' crimes.
They are hitting millions of people with tickets for speeding, parking, litter and even putting out bins on the wrong day.
The 'offenders' are being caught using a range of increasingly advanced surveillance techniques, including spy cameras.
The amount raked in from 'soft crimes' includes £330million in parking fines, £100million from speeding tickets and £12million from spot fines for offences such as over-filling a dustbin so its lid will not close.
Speed cameras alone snare more than 1.4million people a year.
In November, 26-year-old Vanessa Kelly was handed a £75 fine after a warden saw her and her son Harry, 17 months, throwing bread to birds 'outside the designated feeding areas' in a park in Smethwick, West Midlands.
Critics blame the target culture - under which police are expected by the Government to catch as many 'criminals' as possible - regardless of the offence.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Police priorities are increasingly being warped by revenue-raising and box-ticking, which is diverting their time from catching real criminals to targeting the hard-working middle classes.
'Taxpayers want the police to change their approach, focusing on the worst criminals and stopping using small misdemeanours as an excuse to extract yet more cash from families.'
Police are using automatic numberplate recognition cameras - designed to catch serious criminals and terrorists - for driving offences and other minor crimes.
The cameras can capture over 3,500 images an hour of licence plates and drivers.
The pictures are cross-referenced with police intelligence and data from the DVLA and insurance firms to generate 'hits' which are then sent to police.
It is claimed the database contains a large number of inaccuracies in some areas - up to 30 per cent of details are out of date or otherwise wrong - so that drivers are being wrongly accused of offences they did not commit.
Whistleblowers have also expressed concern that police managers are 'engineering' arrests to meet targets.
Officers have allegedly been sent to re-arrest drivers fined for driving without insurance.
fines
Before impounded cars can be released, the owner has to apply for insurance. Officers are allegedly checking with insurers to see if they declare the most recent penalties.
If the answer is 'no' they arrest them for obtaining insurance fraudulently.
Meanwhile, Big Brother CCTV cameras are being used to dole out 'ghost parking' fines worth £3million a year rather than catch serious criminals.
The cameras record parking rule infringements and automated fine notices are sent to the vehicle's owner. No warden is required. Some 34 councils are already using the tactic - with others expected to follow.
speed
Cash cows: speed cameras trap 1.4m motorists a year
Councils have also bolstered the ranks of 'snoopers' seeking to issue revenue-raising fines.
Last month, it emerged that the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme has now given 1,667 park wardens, dog wardens, car park attendants and shopping centre guards the power to hand out fines for 'crimes' such as littering, dog fouling and vandalism.
They have been dubbed 'Jacqui Smith's irregulars' in reference to the former Home Secretary who encouraged their use.
A further 478 civilians have been given the power to stop vehicles to check for out-of-date tax discs.
The moves have been attacked as part of an increasing ' criminalisation' of the middle-classes by the police.
Last year, a report said the middle classes have lost confidence in the police. It said people have been alienated by a service which targets ordinary people rather than serious criminals, simply to fill crime quotas. Its author, respected journalist Harriet Sergeant, said incidents which would once have been ignored are now treated as crimes.
Source: '
Daily Mail '
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