BODY WORN CAMERAS FOR TRAFFIC WARDENS – PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Thank you for participating in this public consultation regarding Limerick City and County Council’s (LCCC) proposed use of Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) for Traffic Wardens.
The Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act 1975 to 2023 confers certain functional obligations onto Local Authorities. These obligations include an obligation to employ Traffic Wardens for purposes including the prohibition or restriction of the stopping or parking of vehicles. The work of Traffic Wardens includes:
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Affixing fixed-charge fine notices to vehicles parked illegally and other offences under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2023 relating to the prohibition or restriction of the stopping or parking of vehicles
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Detecting offences relating to failure to display valid vehicle tax registration
These are important tasks in the public interest. For example, drivers with medical conditions and/or physical disabilities are particularly dependent upon Traffic Wardens carrying out these functions in order to ensure disabled parking spaces are reserved for people holding a Disabled Person’s Parking Permit and are therefore genuinely entitled to use such spaces. Enforcement of these functions ensures that LCCC local authority public spaces can be enjoyed by all road users and pedestrians in a safe and accessible manner. The fair and consistent application of road traffic legislation is to the benefit of the entire community.
Initially, the Council are proposing to introduce BWCs on a 6-month pilot basis. If the BWCs trial is deemed to be successful, the Council intends to continue using these cameras on a full time basis and subsequently reviewed.
LCCC deem the deployment of BWCs necessary for the security and safety of LCCC’s Traffic Warden Team. The objective of this pilot is to reduce incidents of violence and aggression towards Traffic Wardens. The BWCs will support Traffic Wardens in a lone working environment. LCCC has a duty of care to their employees and provision of BWCs will provide extra protection for Traffic Wardens fulfilling their duties without fear of intimidation. The health and safety of Traffic Wardens and their wellbeing is central to the decision to deploy BWCs on a pilot basis initially.
Please note the device is turned off at all times until the Traffic Warden assesses the risk and decides to activate the device when an incident occurs, or the Traffic Warden anticipates an incident is about to occur. It involves Audio/Video/GPS Surveillance. In the event that a serious incident occurs, it is envisaged that a member of An Garda Síochána would request footage under Section 41b and 71b of the Data Protection Act 2018 and/ or Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and/ or on foot of a warrant to obtain evidential material from LCCC in order to prosecute a person accused of assaulting our Traffic Wardens.
It is important to note that the BWC’s are not live monitoring and will only be deployed when it is deemed necessary and only record when activated. Viewing and downloads of incidents will be managed and controlled by the Traffic Warden Supervisor/Manager/Data Protection Officer. Downloaded data will be stored in a secure access-controlled environment within LCCC.
Your feedback is invaluable in helping us understand community perspectives and make informed decisions.
The following questions are designed to gather your views on public safety, privacy and the effectiveness of Body Worn Cameras. Your responses will remain confidential and will be used solely for this consultation. A copy of the Privacy Statement for this survey can be read here.
LCCC is undertaking this public consultation on the use of BWC’s in Limerick City and County.
We seek your views on the use of the BWCs for Traffic Wardens. The initial 6-month trial is proposed to take place in Limerick Metropolitan District.
This public consultation provides an opportunity for local individuals, businesses and Limerick City and County Council staff to comment on how BWC’s for Traffic Wardens may affect their daily lives.
The closing date for this survey is 4pm on Monday, 9th September 2024.
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This survey is anonymous. No personal data will be retained by LCCC.
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In order to participate in this survey, registering for a MyPoint Account is required. The registration process will require you to submit some personal data, however, this will have no impact on the anonymity of the survey.
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Please click “Next Page” to begin the survey.