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CCTV in the UK

Tom Coates

08:47 / 18.06.01

FROM THE ZINE:

quote: Britain leads the world in the use of closed circuit television to discourage crime on our streets, and enjoys the highest known proportion of CCTV coverage. Go into any town or city centre and you will see large white rectangles on poles, each housing an expensive camera, linked to a control room. They allow the operator to observe the surrounding area at close range, but how much do these things cost? How effective are they? And do we really want a stranger watching our every move?

So what do people think about CCTV in the UK? Is it stopping crime, an afront to our privacy or a waste of money?

Ellis

08:52 / 18.06.01

Its blurry and only works after the crime since the government doesn't have the money to staff the cams 24 hours a day.

The Mr E suprise

14:32 / 18.06.01

Not true. Many councils are spending a lot of their budget on 24 hour security. Also, accuracy can be imporved, but that makes it more obvious (and easier to hide from)

(Insert quote about a guard playing doom here.)

adamswish

14:41 / 18.06.01

isn't mark thomas' competition (it was mentioned in the article) coming to a close soon.
Seem to remember him mentioning around this kind of time, and a program in august or some such.

As for their effectiveness I don't know. I seen stuff happening around the cameras, and always chuckle when I see a camera missing from it's mounting as it's been nicked (which has to be classed as a triumph for post-modernism or something).
Did hear a couple of weeks ago about a scheme that had the cameras emitting a loud noise in order for people to look directly into them and so the authorities can get a decent shot of them.

Kirk Insectoid

17:38 / 18.06.01

Not quite off topic, but a bit to the side:

Here in San Diego, California there was recently a big controversy over the use of these cameras to catch people running stop lights. Well, it turns out that all the traffic lights with cameras on them have been rigged so that the transition from yellow lights to red is much much shorter than at traffic lights without cameras, so people have less time to stop. This has resulted in the ticketting of hundreds of drivers who did not deserve to get tickets.

According to the news, the investigation is ongoing.

Moth

02:46 / 20.06.01

Most people I have talked to over the past five years about this get more alarmed when the potential of neural network computers are discussed; programs with the potential to learn, and are powerful enough to perform facial-recognition functions. And they are in development. Super-bowl attendees were apparently subject to a massive field test this year, as Tom reported here back in february.

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