London authorities scramble as taxpayers remove surveillance cameras

The City of London is scrambling to add security measures after authorities have failed to stop citizens removing and sabotaging surveillance cameras.

Transport for London (TfL), the city’s transportation department, is erecting thousands of AI-powered surveillance cameras to help enforce London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emission zones (ULEZs).

ULEZs are areas in London accessible only to low-emission vehicles. Cars that do not meet the city’s environmental standards are charged £12.50 ($16) for entering the ULEZ. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras positioned around the zones read license plates and check them against the vehicles’ make and model in real time. If a vehicle does not meet the environmental threshold, the fine is levied against the car owner. Failure to pay can lead to fines as high as £258 ($331).

Nearly half of London’s residents — over four million people — now live in ULEZs, which cover the North and South Circular Roads. By August 29th, the ULEZ will expand to encompass all London boroughs, drawing heavy protests from residents.

Approximately 1,900 ANPR cameras have been installed so far, and Mayor Khan plans to install hundreds more around outer London. In addition to watching for ULEZ offenders, TfL says they serve as security cameras for law enforcement to “prevent and detect crime.” 

But as of July, at least 200 cameras were stolen or vandalized by a group of citizen activists who call themselves the Blade Runners. According to the Daily Mail, they have promised not to rest until every such camera is removed or destroyed “no matter what.”

TfL has since refused to update the number of cameras vandalized.

In the meantime, the city has started placing black boxes around the cameras’ wirings to protect them from being cut.

“Vandalism on our network is unacceptable and all incidents are reported to the police for investigation,” TfL said in a statement. “'We have increased the security of the ULEZ cameras following further incidents of vandalism and theft. The Met has been clear that this is vandalism of government property and is a criminal offence which could lead to prosecution.”

Anyone caught vandalizing a camera could serve up to four years in jail.

One reported Blade Runner said,  “In terms of damage it's way more than what [Khan and TfL] have stated. It's at least a couple of hundred.

“Snipping, damaging with hammers, painting, disabling on a circuit level and removing. They are unbolted and they are snipped. The tools they use to install them are the ones we use to remove it. We don't want this. It's a way to try to . . . restrict our movements. F*** them. It will not happen because we haven't done anything to deserve it.”

Khan’s climate mandate has sparked growing unrest in the city. Many Londoners are refusing to pay ULEZ climate fines, bucking hundreds of thousands of pounds in penalties. Even some local councils have joined the revolt and notified Mayor Khan that they will not allow TfL to erect ULEZ signage or cameras in their jurisdictions. One British veteran made headlines for going on a seven-day hunger strike to protest the mandate.