Worried cabbies may get CCTV protection

10:17am Saturday 30th August 2008

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CABBIES in fear of being attacked could soon have CCTV in their taxis.

In the past year, the borough's taxi drivers have reported a passenger making threats with a knife, two drivers being assaulted and three robbed - including one in daylight. There have also been four incidents of criminal damage in vehicles.

Now Basingstoke Hackney Carriage Federation has joined private-hire drivers to call on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to allow them to install spy cameras in vehicles.

They argue that the cameras provide evidence against offenders and will make drivers feel safer at night.

Federation secretary Melvyn Leaman said: "With the violence going on at the moment, we need to have proof of what goes on and maybe the police will take some action.

"It's becoming more and more common in the trade to have CCTV cameras in the cars. Southampton have got quite a few.

"It really is nasty, especially late at night. Ninety-five per cent of customers are brilliant but the other five per cent are an absolute pain."

The cabbies' proposal will be considered by the borough council's licensing sub-committee on Tuesday.

A report prepared by Bill Flood, head of community protection, is recommending the committee approves an eight-week trial of the scheme.

The report states: "Licensed drivers, mainly those working late nights, are often placed in threatening and vulnerable positions."

Mr Flood's report reveals that the cameras have proved effective in reducing crime in other areas.

The cameras, for which drivers would have to pay, would have to be positioned so they presented no impact danger to passengers, the report stated.

Drivers would have to make it clear CCTV was operating in their cab and any images created would have to be encrypted and only made accessible to authorised council or police officers, it added.