The account of the episode was in last week's Worthing Herald.

A community worker took pictures of his wife on the steps of the police station for a friend overseas who collects international police memorabilia.

All perfectly innocent, but PCSOs rushed out of the station and demanded he deleted the pictures from his phone "because he could be a terrorist."

There are some worrying aspects to this incident. The first is that as a society we are being brainwashed into believing that everyone is a would-be terrorist.

Of course, we have all got to be on our guard, and if we see anything suspicious it's common sense to report it.

And we all know of the terrorist incidents which have happened in Britain, the USA and other places, so we can't just ignore the threats.

There are dangerous people in our midst. A few are would-be terrorists, but many, many more are just common or garden crooks, the people likely to steal your car, pick your pockets or burgle your home.

These outnumber terrorists, and paedophiles for that matter, thousands to one.

So, rushing out of a police station because someone is taking a picture outside is pure paranoia.

Worthing police station is not a top secret military installation and is not likely to be on a terrorist's top ten hit list.

The other worrying aspect is that these PCSOs were acting totally illegally in demanding that this person remove pictures from his camera.

Britain is not (yet) Stalinist Russia or ruled (yet) by a military junta or (not quite yet) by a Zimbabwe-style despot.

British people can take pictures in a public place and should not be harassed by paranoid or over-zealous police officers or not quite police officers.

After all, we're having pictures taken of us every day thanks to the hidden and not so hidden cameras, and if it's good for officialdom to take pictures in public places, it is good enough for us.

This takes me conveniently on to the episode in Montague Street, when CCTV protesters mounted a demo against the proliferation of local cameras, "celebrating" their 12th anniversary and began taking pictures along the street.

They used a megaphone and, not surprisingly, traders and shoppers complained about the noise.

When shop wardens came onto the scene they were confronted by the group of people taking pictures of them.

They demanded (wrongly) that they should stop taking pictures, which led to an even greater confrontation and a possible situation of a breach of the peace.

In the right hands, CCTV is a useful deterrent to crime, and a useful tool in prosecuting drunken thugs who have terrorised streets in our towns and cities at weekends.

But there is always the danger of a CCTV overkill. We're already the most watched society in the world, and perhaps the time has come to say enough is enough..

It's sad that we have rotten eggs in society that any of it is needed.
The sad fact is that with the economic downturn now on us big time, there will be many more people who will no longer be able to enjoy the lifestyle they have had in the past.

The majority of responsible people will accept the fact, curb their spending and live within their means.

The few will turn to crime to continue their extravagant lifestyle, so beware of the possibility of more opportunist crime in the months ahead and don't be a victim yourself.