VIOLENT or anti-social yobs and fare dodgers getting in taxis in East Herts, could be snared by a new CCTV trail aimed at protecting cabbies.
The pilot involves 12 drivers - six in Hertford and Ware and six in Bishops Stortford have signed up to the scheme and more are expected to follow.
Among the first to get the new technology were Derek and Anne Peters, who own Hertford's Riverside Taxis. Derek told the Herald: "All three of my taxis have them in. It's for driver safety mainly. There've been problems in the past both with our own taxis and other people's." He added: "It's the perfect deterrent, if someone says that don't have any money, we tell them that it's all been recorded and we'll take that one to the police station, then they miraculously find that they have money. They all put their hands over the camera and say 'nothing else is going to be recorded' but we've got enough. It's a deterrent."
Anne said: "We don't get a lot of difficult passengers, but we do get a few and the camera most definitely makes me feel safer. It has a two way benefit because passengers know I won't be ripping them off if I'm being recorded."
But a taxi driver from Deejay's Taxis, in Railway Street, was not as keen on the scheme. Asked if he thought CCTV in taxis was a good idea, he said: "Personally, no, but I can see some circumstances where it would be.
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