Boris Johnson, Conservative Candidate in next year’s Mayoral elections, has made the first spending commitment of the campaign – a six-month, £150,000 trial of live CCTV on 20 of London’s "most dangerous" bus routes.
Mr Johnson said, if elected, his first job would be "to stop the incivility on London’s buses" adding "I’m delighted to be able to commit to this live CCTV trial. For the police and bus operators to see
inside the bus assuch as graffiti."
The Johnson campaign say the trial routes would be picked in consultation "with the Metropolitan Police who will identify the routes with the most consistent record of trouble."
According to figures issued by Mr Johnson there were 387 code red calls – calls made by bus drivers when they have to stop the bus because of a problem – in June 2004, up to 697 in October 2006.
The live CCTV scheme would enable existing operators to instantly access real-time, live CCTV whenever they receive a code red call allowing them to immediately prioritise which calls required emergency police assistance.
