KEITH SHARP, of Dawlish, writes: I have bad news for Barbara-Ann Curran. Her comments will not convince anybody of the need for CCTV (report, September 1). It merely shows how desperate the authorities are to persuade taxpayers that cameras are not a complete waste of public money. It also shows how out of touch they are with public opinion. In Dawlish, a recent consultation exercise revealed that 98.4 per cent of those questioned were so enamoured of CCTV that they did not even mention it. The result was hailed by Dawlish Town Council as evidence of 'overwhelming' public support for CCTV. Some 30 or 40 years ago, when spy cameras were first introduced, they were seen as a novel and inexpensive way of tackling crime. But the times they are a'changing – and so are public attitudes. People are sick to death of having their privacy invaded on the spurious pretext that cameras help to reduce crime. They don't. All they do is move it on. The idea that a burglar, when confronted with a camera, will get a job and go straight is risible. He simply gets on his bike and burgles somebody else. The mayor of Bovey Tracey, Cllr Gribble, does the town no favours by saying that it has become safer thanks to CCTV. The implication is that, before cameras were installed, it was not safe to walk the streets. The latest Home Office figures show that the chances of being a victim of crime – even of being stabbed by a man without a knife – are the lowest since records began. Both the mayor and Miss Curran might like to know that in 1361 Parliament passed the Justice of the Peace Act which provided for the arrest of peeping toms and eavesdroppers. The sooner we have a modern equivalent the better.