It is a known fact that we are being watched more and more everyday , what is not known is that the average uk citizen is watched over 300 times a day ,CCTV cameras in the UK - surveillance and the loss of privacy.
The UK has more CCTV cameras per head of population than any other country in the world. Now the police admit they can be a poor use of capital and may be largely ineffective in deterring or reducing crime. So why did the UK become CCTV crazy?
The answer probably lies in the inability of local councillors and other politicians to understand that the most expensive solution may not necessarily be the best. Also, the public clamour of 'action' on high profile crimes is most easily satisfied by a high-technology response. Unprincipled businessmen have made multimillion pound fortunes from the public purse - and crime rates have been largely unaffected.
So basically with cctv it is no longer a case of cctv being there to protect the law abiding citizen or the not so law abiding .
There are cases of muggings ,murder even rape being commited in front of cctv cameras ,but nothing not even a arrest .
It has gone to a case of being watched just for the sake of being watched ,so the government know where you are ,what your doing (even if it is illegal),just for the sake of it .
In Sidmouth, a sleepy quintessentially 'English' seaside town, it is proposed to saturate the town centre with CCTV - the pressure comes from a few local business people and dimwit councillors who can see no other way of dealing with spates of vandalism and drunken behaviour that are damaging Sidmouth's reputation as a centre of 'genteel' tourism. The local police are fully supportive of what they claim is a highly effective technology - maybe they should ask their more knowledgeable colleagues in London?!
Meanwhile all the 'low level' crime, underage drinking, dog fouling and littering that makes the centre of Sidmouth look more like a run-down housing estate continues to be largely ignored by the council officials who are paid to address these problems.
......................I appear to have a problem with commenting on my own blog so here is the proof that Mr Anon needs with a nie little link too, not that i expect him to believe it ,there was upto 1999 over 1m cctv cameras purchased imagine the figure now http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/334853.stm
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