seekingcounsel
THE Environment Agency has had additional powers since March 2018 to combat rogue operators. With tougher sanctions and powers, it is likely the EA will be utilising these tools to crack down on criminal activity which causes harm to the environment, and damages the reputation of the great many law-abiding businesses.
All to the good then, although there is also the provision for waste enforcement offi cers to be equipped with body worn video cameras on their visits to waste sites.
Now these have been in operation by police forces for some time, and are usually deployed upon arrest or questioning of an individual on the street.
Whilst there are civil liberties groups concerned with this Big Brother aspect, the justifi cation has been to show the demeanour of the individual, and whether they have been aggressive or anti-social to the offi ce. In short, it is viewed as useful evidence gathering for the prosecution.
Video evidence utilised to justify a STOP notice But why role these out to EA offi cers? It appears to have followed a major trial in the North East, and possibly been partly justifi ed by the prosecution of an individual found guilty of wilful obstruction and abusive behaviour. I am uncertain of the particular circumstances of that case, as I was not personally involved. Although the use of cameras at regular site inspections will be determined by the individual inspector, the fact they will be equipped with them suggests there is a risk of cameras becoming the norm. This goes back to the issue I flagged up at last year’s WASTE’17 Expo at Old Trafford, where the use of video by drone or
THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW
Big Brother option means widespread repercussions
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He has more than 20 years of experience defending both individuals and companies, in both criminal and regulatory legal-related matters.
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bodycam can be extremely damning on first sight (as effective impact evidence).
Video evidence can be utilised to justify a STOP notice (for fi re infringement breaches on mixed waste storage), or for a Compliance Assessment Report.
These are always challengeable of course, but I have been suggesting to many client operators that they should make a short video recording of their busiest and least busiest periods on the same day.
This is a good way of both rebutting the CAR, or placing the incident into context and providing useful mitigation if required.
My fear for smaller operators and individuals is not that they will threaten violence or be obstructive to EA inspectors - this seems an unlikely outcome, given the need to foster good working relationships.
In my opinion, the danger might be where video evidence obtained during a visit could subsequently become part of a future prosecution for unforeseen permit breaches and infringements.
138 prosecutions against operators
Since November 2017 the EA has had an additional £30million funding to tackle waste crime. Since March the watchdog organisation has been granted additional powers to combat rogue operators, who will now be forced to clear all the waste at a problem site, and not just the illegal waste.
In the fi nancial year 2016/17 there were a total of 138 prosecutions against operators, and the fi nes imposed were in excess of £2 million.
IN JUNE 2015, the Met police force announced plans to deploy 20,000 body-worn cameras in the world’s largest roll-out.
The London-based force gave the go-ahead for every neighbourhood and response offi cer in the Met to be equipped with body-worn video cameras, following a trial of the technology.
The cameras record a rolling 30 second loop of what they see which is automatically discarded, unless the offi cer presses the ‘record’ button in response to an incident.
22 SHM May, 2018
www.skiphiremagazine.co.uk
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