Council officers as police: how does that look?

Published: 3:39 PM July 23, 2009 Updated: 1:26 PM October 14, 2020

ARE you comfortable with the idea of Camden Council officers doubling up as special constables with uniforms, warrant cards and powers of arrest? Thought not. It all sounds a little too Big Brothery, doesn t it, and yet another slide on the slippery slope

ARE you comfortable with the idea of Camden Council officers doubling up as special constables with uniforms, warrant cards and powers of arrest? Thought not. It all sounds a little too Big Brothery, doesn't it, and yet another slide on the slippery slope towards a police state in this, the most-watched capital city of the world's most watched country, according to the latest CCTV statistics.

Council officers are generally very honest, law-abiding and upstanding citizens but many people who have encountered some of them in disputes would argue that the last thing they should be given is more power.

But we shouldn't be surprised. Nowadays the Town Hall mentality is that insulting a member is a criminal offence, no less. Not so long ago telling a councillor exactly what you thought of them was considered to be part of what we called free speech and open democracy.

One last point: unless it is over-staffed, how can the council spare its officers to do police work? We've always assumed they were already working around the clock, silly us...