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CCTV and The London Bombings Against the backdrop of an ever present risk of further suicide bomb attacks on London, and with police and security services at their highest level of alert, the tragic shooting of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, has caused shockwaves throughout the country. With initial news reports saying that a suspected suicide bomber, had been shot dead by armed police at Stockwell Underground station, the dreadful reality of events slowly became clearer, over the following few days. Whilst rumours and suggestions continue to fuel speculation over what precisely occured on the morning of July 22nd 2005, those few facts that have emerged, suggest that the stations CCTV system, may or may not hold vital clues, as to the precise sequence of events. London Underground who manage the station, had reportedly as part of the ongoing investigation, immediately handed over all video recordings to the Metropolitan Police, but it was subsequently stated that the tapes were blank. As if to reinforce this suggestion, Brazilian investigators were quoted as saying that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the authority charged with conducting the investigation into the shooting, had informed them that some of the stations cameras could be out of order, and that parts of the recordings do not exist. To confuse matters further, the Mayor of London Mr. Ken Livingstone, appeared on ITV Televisions' London Tonight programme, to reassure the viewers that there was nothing untoward about the lack of CCTV evidence. And yet the statements made during the interview, have only served to throw up further questions and contradictions about operational shortcomings. The Mayor stated that the station was undergoing major refurbishment works, and that some of the cameras were not working. This coupled with the suggestion that all recordings were handed over to the police immediately after the bomb attacks on the 7th July, raises a whole series of issues, which have yet to be adequately addressed. If the recordings were handed over after the bombings, this suggests that some if not all of the cameras were actually working at that time. Were they decommissioned after the attacks, or did they continue to work correctly? If the cameras or their recording systems were compromised, why was the station allowed to operate as normal, under such circumstances? Indeed, if as part of the major refurbishment works key components of the CCTV system had to be temporarily decommissioned, why were they not reinstated as a matter of priority immediately after the initial attacks? At this time, investigators have made it less than clear that they have all the CCTV recordings available, captured on the morning of such a tragic event. Whether in fact they have all that they both needed, and had a legitimate and reasonable expectation to receive, remains to be seen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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