CCTV Society
Closed Circuit Television is now a fact of everyday life and Britain is famously the most-watched nation in the world. There is, in fact, one CCTV camera for every 14 people living in the UK.
Opinion is split over whether CCTV is an effective crime deterrent, an invasion of privacy and human rights, or somewhere in-between: a sad necessity.
CCTV is used today in most streets, car parks, shops, train stations, town centers and more. It is increasingly even used in homes, businesses and schools. What does this say about our society that CCTV is so widely used even to our own homes!
The use of CCTV
CCTV is largely used to tackle crime such as shoplifting, car theft, vandalism and assault. Many see CCTV as the best defence against these kinds of crimes. It can also be used to tackle smaller, but still important, matters such as littering, truanting and bullying.
There have been reports of crime rates falling and arrest rates rising dramatically thanks to the use of CCTV surveillance. Many retailers have also reported less theft and higher profits thanks to the use of CCTV.
Also, CCTV can be used to protect staff and make sure that intruders are kept out of schools and homes.
These days talking CCTV is even in use and was widely reported in the news recently. CCTV controllers can speak to anyone they see committing a crime on the CCTV monitors.
Does CCTV work as a deterrent against crime?
There is much debate about whether CCTV actually works.
CCTV has been used as evidence in a number of high profile crimes of recent years, including the murder of Jamie Bulger and Jill Dando, and the nail bomb which was set off in a London pub. In all these cases CCTV played some part in helping authorities piece together the crime.
So widespread is the use of CCTV in our every day lifes that there are TV programmes dedicated to CCTV footage of bungled burgularies and police chase programmes.
Many authorities have also reported falling crime levels since installing CCTV. One study showed that 13 out of 24 city centres experience a significant decrease in the level of crime, and attributed this to the introduction of CCTV. However, 4 cities also reported an increase in crime. Could this be that because CCTV is so widespread there is a growing bravado amongst some elements that see it as a means to flaunt the law and show even more contempt for authority
Some experts have suggested that the effectiveness of CCTV has been exaggerated.
Although CCTV obviously does have many crime prevention advantages, it is obviously not the miracle cure for crime that some had hoped and suggested that it could be. Many more studies are likely to be conducted into the effectiveness of CCTV in the coming years. Britain has more CCTV than any other country in the world and yet we claim to be a democratic, peace loving society so why the need for such measures, why do we need to be recording our every move both day and night. Is this a symptom of a society gone terribly wrong or is it just a natural extension of crime prevention methods.
The arguments against CCTV
Some people’s objection to CCTV is not an objection to the use of the technology itself, but the fact that in can, and they fear it would be, abused. And this is one of the main problems with CCTV at the moment: the use of CCTV can often built on an element of mistrust and even if it isn’t it can easily breed an atmosphere of mistrust.
Others object to the proliferation of CCTV use outright and see it as a serious invasion of their privacy. They ask why their every move should be monitored by CCTV and other surveillance technology, and they ask how this data will be used, particularly by the government.
The counter arguments contest that only criminals should have anything to fear from CCTV and they question why law-abiding citizens should want to keep secrets. One person’s secret is another person’s privacy and this is where opinion divides.
One thing is clear: CCTV is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Although it can obviously be effective, the question remains: is it effective enough to justify the trade off of a less free society.
CCTV is part of our every day lifes and is here to stay and you should always remember to ‘smile’ for the camera.
