LETTER: Cameras fighting crime in Newcastle, not just snooping

AS A Labour councillor and resident in the West End of Newcastle, I can confirm the public support for the anti-crime camera surveillance system recently introduced here by the police. It is indeed sad that we now have to surrender a high degree of privacy to combat crime.

The TV security system has won approval at many public meetings, but that welcome will soon wear thin if the system becomes identified with the sort of ill-formed, sweeping generalisations about the local people featured in your report.

Most people in the West End of Newcastle are no different from your readers in the leafy suburbs. They simply want to get on with normal, purposeful lives without worrying about crime. We are experiencing the stark results of long-term, mass unemployment. So, if you really want to help, then how about demanding that the next government commit itself to full employment?

Nigel Todd

Newcastle upon Tyne