Sex and CCTV tapes

A new £50,000 camera has been installed in the Castle Ward of Northampton to catch kerb crawlers from using prostitutes plying their trade in a ‘designated’ area of the town.
The camera in Quorn way industrial estate is the latest initiative by the Community Safety team who want to send out a ‘strong’ message that anyone using the area will be will be caught.
The camera, paid for by the Casper and Neighbourhood Renewal Board, is there to put an end to street sex working in Northamptonshire Police.

Herein lies the contradiction given that the area was part of a groundbreaking pilot which designated it as a ‘safe’ area for prostitutes to ply their trade in the town. Internet sites encouraged people from as far as Birmingham to use the area. Those responsible for the pilot acknowledged that whilst it was attracting people from afar, it provided the police and those services which wished to support the prostitutes with a better chance of keeping tabs on the girls. However, when you designate an area for the sex trade, and unless I am mistaken, you expect punters.

This policy of turning a blind eye and then turning tough is all very confusing and if the authorities cannot get their act together as to how they wish to tackle this problem, these half baked and all too often expensive measures will cause more confusion that convictions.