TheAgitator.com
CCTV Not Solving Crimes
Saturday, May 10th, 2008The top justification for the massive invasion of privacy that is Britain’s CCTV system isn’t panning out:
Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.
It is, however, a great way for CCTV monitors to get cheap thrills.
Although I oppose them still, this news kinds of takes the fire out of the “oppressive police state” argument against video surveillance. How can Big Brother crack down on thought crimes if using CCTV really isn’t effective on stopping robberies?
I still oppose it, and despise the idea that Big Brother can watch whatever I do whenever I do it, but I think what a lot of hysterical kneejerk Orwell quoting types forget is that the government isn’t always good at doing what it does.
despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology
Pounds of what?
badumdum
pounds of euros
oh, and as if it were ever about solving crimes. lol thats funny…
In the town I lived in, CCTV helped the police catch and convict two serial rapists. I get why people don’t like the cameras, but so long as they’re only used in public areas and not on private property against the owners’ will I’ve really got no problem with them. I don’t see it as much different than hiring more police officers, except the camera’s not going to beat the crap out of you because it has a bad day and a personality disorder.
That said, I hope like hell that speed cameras stay a rarity over here. Absolutely hate those things.
UCrawford,
Unfortunately, even when CCTV cameras are placed in public places, how can you guarantee that the lens will stay trained on that public place?
Evidently… You can’t.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/06/cctv_peeping_toms/
…after all, while the watchers watch us, who watches them?
alan moore was right.
//How can Big Brother crack down on thought crimes if using CCTV really isn’t effective on stopping robberies?//
CCTV would be much more effective for the former than the latter. If the government suspects Winston Smith may be up to some ungoodness, it can track him to see where he goes, and who he spends how much time with. It can track the people with whom he seems to have overly conversant, and see who they meet.
CCTV is not that great at solving crimes, because most crimes don’t start out with any ‘hot leads’, and CCTV isn’t very good at catching ‘cold ones’. On the other hand, if the objective is to track down anyone who might question the government, and if the government has any suspicions to start with, CCTV can be effective.
Human ingenuity in the face of such crap can be amazing. Read this article from the telegraph about this band which used CCTVs around London, to make a music video.
Here is the video on youtube.
They have recently started installing cameras in my town.
Ostensibly for the usual crime deterrence reasons.
The cameras are on most corners in the downtown now. Three on the block in front of the newspaper office. It seems that last year there was a person who shot at the paper building. The person was never caught. The potential is that it was an off duty police officer angered by a story.
So in our town CCTV is as much a Catch the Cop TV system as anything.
I think cameras mark the end of our free society, but I also think you’ve got the wrong metric here Radley. The better argument for cameras is that they serve as a deterrent, and I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that they work in that regard.
As the official spokeman for all hysterical kneejerk Orwell quoting types, I can tell you that not a single one of us feels the government is “good at doing what it does”. The idea that the government might be too inept to use its surveillance as a tool to crack down on though crime, does nothing to bolster our sense of security or make us any less hysterical or kneejerky. Not being able to do something well has never hindered the government from doing it anyway.
Usually when a government program doesn’t work, the answer is to increase the size of the program. Ultimately, that’s probably what will happen with Britain’s surveillance camera system.
Face it, with infinite storage everything you do will be recorded and analyzed. You should focus on a privacy framework instead of fighting the future. The ads on this page know more about you than you know.