SPEED cameras netted nearly £3.4m in North Wales in just a year, figures revealed yesterday. Two-thirds of the money raised by the controversial Arrive Alive scheme was used to cover police costs. The rest was handed to the magistrates courts, the highways authority and £496,000 to the government. Police chiefs said the speeding scheme meant the perpetrators and not the general public met the costs of the police, the highways agency and the courts. But anti-speed campaign leaders last night branded the figure "scandalous" and accused the police of a money-making scam. The figures, for the last financial year, revealed yesterday in a written report by chief constable Richard Brunstrom at a meeting of the police authority at Colwyn Bay. Around £2.2m went to the police, nearly £270,000 to magistrates' courts, and £396,000 to the highways authority. Acccording to the report, North Wales has nine mobile units, 15 fixed cameras and two "motorcycle enforcement vehicles". Mr Brunstrom claimed Arrive Alive saw a decrease of 11 fatalities and 49 serious injuries on roads targeted by the campaign in 2003. He said: "By targeting 6% of the road network Arrive Alive impacts on 25% of the number of people killed and seriously injured and the casualty reduction to date suggests that North Wales as a whole will achieve the government's 2010 target of 40% by 2006." The 50% target in reducing the number of children killed and seriously injured had already been met. A Department of Transport three-year study showed North Wales had a 68% reduction in casualties at camera sites, the highest in Britain. Mr Brunstrom said: "Arrive Alive has been the first safety partnership in the UK to undertake a programme of targeted education by offering warning letters to those travelling at 1mph under the enforcement threshold. In this way we are educating and influencing 25% of all offenders." Mr Brunstrom added: "In the past months Arrive Alive has received 255 complaints regarding speeding vehicles from individuals, communities and councils, with everyone being assessed and surveys undertaken in response to these complaints." Llandudno businessman Arthur Roberts, a founder member of the group People for Proper Policing in North Wales, described the sumraised as "scandalous". "It just goes to prove what we have been saying for so long, that the cameras are a money-making scam," he said. "It is also worrying because the police are in partnership with others such as the magistrates' courts in raising money." Detection rates rise CRIME detection in North Wales had risen to 38%, members of the police authority were told at Colwyn Bay yesterday. "The average across the country is 19%, and some forces I won't name are well below that," said director of finance Tom O'Donnell. "We are possibly one of the most successful forces in crime detection rates," he added.. The figures had been validated under recording rules. Councillor Malcolm King, authority chairman, said the appointment of community beat managers could be one reason for increased confidence and reporting of incidents. "It's a good omen for the future," he maintained.. | 
