We as a community are still waiting for answers why the cost of the recent purchase of a bodycam was significantly higher than one purchased previously:
The first bodycam and docking station was purchased on 13/12/2019 at a cost of:
£160.70
The second bodycam and docking station was purchased on 24/11/2022 at a cost of:
£3889.34
Alan Draper refused to release information about the Bodycam claiming it would leave it open to “hacking”.
However his stance does not agree with that of a government agency which readily makes known the make and model number of the cameras they use.
This has led people to believe that the camera is hugely overpriced when compared to even very expensive ones on the market.
Concern has been raised that this could possibly be a scam or a lack of due diligence, both of which are very serious issues.
In what way could this have got worse you may be asking?
Well for some reason, we now have a company being paid to monitor the Bodycam and once again the cost is not insignificant at £504.
Would someone from Hemsworth Town Council please inform us why this service and at this cost is even needed?
Could someone also inform us if any type of inquiry has started into the cost of the second purchase yet!
Hemsworth Independent Town Council: Bodycams it gets worse…
So they order a bodycam from Amazon at £160.70
But from another company at £3,889.34
Do they really think we are so gullible to believe their explanation or lack of why the big difference.
At least Dick Turpin wore a mask
Knowing a friend who works in the security industry I asked him about the make a model number if it was a security breach The answer NO . You can go into any wholesalers and ask this question. Before you buy.
Why does the town clerk insist it is ,where as he got this information from, the person who supplied the camera? If so ask him to provide evidence, the Internet, or other source come on town clerk we are curious to know 🤔
Most cameras have internal storage which is expandable Why does it have to be monitored for what reason ? It certainly isn’t required on a night to catch thieves we a have a all singing and dancing security systems silly me forget the intruder alarm doesn’t go off. Why would anybody want to hack the body cam anyway, perhaps the town clerk will tell us. Question need asking and answering
How much are we betting that draper purchased this body cam then decided to make an excuse for already paying for it
After looking at the accounts it seems many have been modified WHY also many missing which is against the law as a Council they should produce anything over £500 but they are not
This makes me wonder why these accounts are missing and who has removed them
There needs to be an investigation ASAP before these people are booted out in May
The security firm is totally taking the piss now with these extortionate prices they are charging and that needs to stop
Are they charging this and in fact all the other extornate monies being spent needs looking at.
is someone adding bits on to hide money missing that is the question that needs to be asked and soon
We ought to put one on Kenyon to see what he gets up to, could be interesting in more ways than one!
We are all living and seeing inflation but wow as the accounts show bodycam and harness previously purchased at £160 then a massive inflated bodycam purchased at a whopping almost £4000 and then £504 paid and recorded as monotoring 1 of bodycam certainly does require investigating.This purchase was raised in a meeting by a parishioner who requested the make and model of such a high priced elite piece of security equipment but the ever evasive Town Clerk was as evasive even more and gave a waffled excuse about not answering the parishioners question.
There definitely as been a lot of expenditure of the communities money on high tech security along with the payout for the on-site security it must be as secure as fork Knox or there again the thefts and burgularies recently doesn’t bode well for such expensive paid by us the community security personal equipment does it.Time for a full overhaul of the entire HTC and its expensive spending.
Reply to vickie
We would probably see Kenyon selling his illegal cigarettes and alcohol that why he won’t wear one
Who actually sits and goes through Amazon and all the hundreds and hundreds of selling sites to make these ludicrous large purchases.Who actually picks and chooses the ludicrously over priced items and who actually presses the pay button I think the community needs to know after all its the community paying for it.
Who is actually authorising these payments the Town Clerk ,it’s a huge money pot or it was but I bet the ludicrously spending spree will continue till May if it’s not stopped and checked and voted on by all the councillors .Transparency is a word HTC and some of the councillors and Town Clerk are not familiar with but the community are and want and deserve answers and not in exclusion.
I’ve spent a bit of time today looking for a top of the range body cam. Nothing I can find comes in at more than six hundred pounds with software management system costing around one hundred and fifty pounds. I also noticed a popular one used by police forces available on a monthly plan which includes a management and storage facility for as little as forty pounds a month. Looks like someone has had his leg lifted or is lifting our leg. All this conjecture could be ended by the council simply providing the invoices, and or camera make and model. Not too difficult or is it.
Try sending FOIs in to request any correct answers it’s like pulling teeth and 1reply back leads to further FOIs and so on the games begin with the Town Clerk that’s if you get a reply .
No Transparency what so ever they prefer the public to be not seen and not heard well I am afraid the parishioners of our community want answers and will be seen and will be heard and not in exclusion councillors.
Just 10 long weeks to go before 4 May elections!
When purchasing bought in services or procuring items/equipment then the responsible person in this parish i.e the town clerk as a duty to make sure we (HTC) gets value for money and as to show that wonderful word Due Diligence as been carried out . I hope he will come up with a explanation as to why we have bought such an expensive piece of kit,I wonder if he ever knew this had been purchased? But again I’m sure due diligence would have been carried out.
Correct me if I’m wrong but does the town clerk work as an employee of HTC so accountable to councillors, if so why doesn’t a Councillor just demand to know the make and model number of the camera then tell us 🤔
The Town clerk is an employee of the council and comes under all the disciplinary and employment procedures. The Town council following disciplinary procedures can dismiss him like any other employee. All information should be available to councillors about this and anything else they want to know. Personally I would be checking the invoice matched the camera details as a matter of urgency along with alot of other things.
Am I the only one worried that all these rediculously expensive and often unnecessary purchases could appear to the cynically minded to be a deliberate attempt to empty the coffers of the council, with the intent of lining the pockets of others? Is it a coincidence they may ask, that items are bought, then need extortionate amounts spending on repairs or maintenance whilst serving no discernable use to the people of this town, or could they be imagining things?
Diggers that could have been hired. But instead were bought, (which of course then needed a ‘free’ building to keep them in) then subsequently sold at a knock down price. They might look to see how much all this cost the council, then look again at how much it was all sold for and wonder whether there could possibly be any connection between the recipients of these bargains and any members of the council. Other items which might concern them amongst many, might be the quad bikes, the running down of the fishing lakes, the body cams, and very expensive security costs which might seemingly to them to be a waste of money given that they don’t appear to work when thefts are taking place . They might ask why are questions from the public often ignored, or given unacceptable answers. Why are the public treated with such derision? Are there some questionable decisions being made here, or are the decisions just the result of grossly incompetent narcissistic individuals?
They might ask why the council want to sell land. Why the council kept quiet about the proposed developments of the Springvale area, why nothing is seemingly being done about the Highfield development.
Perish the thought that some decisions just might have a hidden agenda? Hmm. questions questions. Many are watching with interest to see just how much money can be wasted, sorry, spent before the elections.so that the outgoing council can leave a post-it saying ‘No money left’.
See you in May.
Agree Dan , but can a councillor go see the town clerk and ask about anything purchased? Ie in this case the camera?
Dan – I requested a copy of the invoice from the company that supplied the bodycam. All the information on the invoice was to supply additional bodycam and docking station, no other information. Hence why I requested the make & model number and was told by the town clerk he was going to err on the side on caution and decline my request. In the meeting 12.1.23 where I raised ( available to view ) the answer given was because people could hack into the system which others questioned.
So why did no one question no information on the invoice showing make & Model ???
If you purchase something full details such be shown imo
Town Clerk Alan Draper being evasive as ever Cathy with his FOI reply’s and answers,it’s like a secret service trying to get the truth.