Taxi CCTV makes late night rides safer

Taxi

Rochdale taxi drivers are trialling in-car CCTV cameras to make late night pick-ups safer for them and their passengers.

Rochdale Borough Council has bought the new covert technology and hopes it will help deter crime by reminding passengers that their conduct whilst travelling in taxis is being recorded and will be used as evidence against them if they commit any crimes.

CCTV will be installed in 2 taxis as part of a pilot initiative in response to complaints and concerns from local taxi operators about the safety of their drivers and the number of crimes threatening their livelihood.

Mohammed Naseer, a Hackney Carriage driver in Rochdale, is the first person to trial the cameras in his Black Cab. He said: “Taxi driving can be a risky business. In the past I’ve suffered verbal and racial abuse by drunken passengers, riders have ran away without paying their fares. Some of my colleagues have even been assaulted. I’m grateful to the council for installing CCTV into my cab and I’m hopeful that it will minimise some of these personal safety risks.”

The council’s community safety and licensing departments have been working with local taxi operators for months putting all the necessary preparations in place to get the pilot project up and running. Each compact ‘cigarette sized’ camera costs approximately £1600 and records real time images and audio.

After 12 months the pilot will be evaluated and if it proves to be a successful deterrent for crime, the council hopes it will inspire taxi operators to invest in more CCTV cameras to protect more drivers.

Andy Glover, Public Protection Manager at Rochdale Borough Council, added: “We have a duty to protect our local taxi drivers who provide Rochdale customers with a valuable service and it’s unacceptable for their hard work to be abused by a small minority of people.

“We hope that the CCTV will make these individuals think twice about their behaviour from now on, but more importantly it will provide us with valuable evidence to gain successful prosecutions against those who are abusive or violent.”

Dale Mulgrew, cabinet member responsible for Community Safety is pleased that the council are now taking proactive steps to protect taxi drivers: “Honest, hard-working people should not have their safety and livelihood compromised and any initiative that tries to prevent this from happening has to be worthwhile. If this pilot proves successful then we can consider a wider adoption of this technology. This is one way we could help to make Rochdale borough a safer place to live and do business.”