Cameras

 The next time you walk down a street look up and smile. Have you shaved? Have you got your favourite dress on? Britain is the most watched country in the world. Between 150 and 300 million pounds per year is now spent on a surveillance industry involving an estimated 300,000 cameras.

 The government has just announced that more cameras are to be installed over the next few years. The main driving force for the introduction of these extra cameras is that closed circuit cameras (CCTV) are seen as an integral part of crime control policy. Police and politicians see CCTV as the primary solution for urban crime. As a public, we have embraced the introduction of more cameras as a means of enforcing community spirit.

 But do theses cameras work? Do they deter crime? Are the streets safer? A superficial look at the figures suggest that CCTV cameras are spectacularly successful in reducing crime (http://www.cctv-information.co.uk/intro.html#work). From my personal experiences, since the introduction of CCTV in central Cardiff, Saturday nights are less wild than before. However, crime rates have risen in Britain over the last 10 years, even though the numbers of CCTV cameras have exploded. It seems that CCTV cameras appear to spread crime, not reduce it. Criminals have eyes and know which areas are under surveillance. Read this site for more info (http://merlin.legend.org.uk/~brs/cctv/tenreasons.html)

 Where is this technology leading? A pioneering study in Newham, London gives us a glimpse (http://www.spy.org.uk/n-mandrake.htm). Newham’s CCTV system is able to recognise the faces of individuals and read the number plates of vehicles. Each individual face entering Newham is screened against a database of criminals. Within seconds, the camera operator is able to alert security guards or police of the presence of this individual. This is sounds far-fetched, but this is now an established technology. Even our American cousins are exploring the uses of this technology (http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-02-super-bowl-surveillance.htm).

 Like the issues surrounding genetic engineering, the advances of this technology are moving ahead of the ethical arguments raised. It is in the interest of everyone to become informed of where we are heading. We should be asking how, as members of the public, want these cameras to be used? Unless we drive the technology, the camera watchers will:

 Excerpt from VICON (http://www.vicon-cctv.com/invest/pages/2001focus.html) CCTV manufacturer.

 “Digital video also facilitates elaborate software algorithms which can detect irregular motion abnormal behaviour or scene changes that warn something is missing. The possibilities are endless, and every day, customers think of ways to enhance the effectiveness of their video systems to make them an integral part of their business”.