CCTV

[Kendhni]

Game to destroy CCTV cameras: vandalism or valid protest?

And to think our generation is responsible for breeding these thugs and vandals.
The joke is that in a few years time when they have settled down and something goes wrong fir them they will be demanding to see the CCTV footage ... oh yes that right it got vandalised!

[Silver_Shiney]

Difficult one, this. On the one hand, we need to beware of the insiduous "Big Brother" state that is coming in (the vaunted "New World Order"), so I can see where these people are coming from.

On the other hand, this sort of vandalism deserves to be roundly condemned and the perpetrators brought to account. CCTV serves a useful purpose << at the moment >> and has, undoubtedly, helped to solve more than a few crimes.

However, I can see the day coming when these devices will be used for surveillance on those the state considers to be "undesirables".

[oldbluefox]

Video surveillance does not bother me in the slightest. If you have nothing to hide why worry about them? As I see it they are there to protect me from crime, and if crime is committed, to catch the perpetrators. If one of these 'characters' was 'duffed over' after disabling the CCTV I wonder how happy they would then be with their own actions?

Some juvenile pranks can be quite funny, but this one, no.

[Silver_Shiney]

OBF, I agree that if you have nothing to hide, you SHOULD have nothing to fear.

However, if the technology had been available to them, do you think the Nazis would have hesitated to use CCTV against the Jews?

Or how about tyrannical nations keeping track of dissidents, whose only "crime" is to campaign for freedom of speech, or the right to worship?

They can already track us through our mobiles!

[oldbluefox]

Unfortunately if the technology exists it may always be used for the wrong reasons which we may never even know about. However I applaud its use in preventing crime and catching the perpetrators of crime. Sometimes there is a very thin line between dissidents and terrorists and if such surveillance prevents innocent people being blown up then maybe that is the price I am happy to pay.

[Silver_Shiney]

Please don't misunderstand me, OBF, I'm all for protection of the innocents/crime prevention etc, it's when it's used for the wrong purposes that concerns me.

[Onelife]

I’m with OBF as I don’t see CCTV as an intrusion on my life but more of a deterrent to those who would do me harm. For this reason I wouldn’t mind seeing CCTV cameras on every street in the UK.

If you don’t do the crime you’ve got nothing to worry about.

As for the vandals, thieves and vagabonds who don’t wish to be seen committing these crimes they should all bugger off back to their own countries...I’m sick to death of our country being used as a refuge for those who see us as a soft touch.

Vote UKIP...if only to make our politicians sit up and listen.

Regards

OL

[Silver_Shiney]

OL - a good number of the vandals, thieves and vangabonds etc are homegrown, so they can't be sent back "where they came from".

As I tried (and evidently failed) to make clear, I'm all for it if it's purely for crime prevention/detection. It's the potential for misuse by a tyrannical government that concerns me.

[Kendhni]

From a news story abput 5 years ago it appears that some of the cameras are nothing more than a deterrent .. after having them fitted the councils can't afford to run them !!

A few years back we got a load of speed cameras in at a significant 6 figure sum, it was on a stretch of road that is usually crawling with rush hour traffic, but apparently late at night an very occasional speeder has an accident ... following an FOI request it appeared that in their first year they caught one person speeding who was let off ... good solid use of tax payers money

[Silver_Shiney]

I have more of a problem when the councils announce that they are switching the wretched things off! Having put them up, they ought to keep them up and at least make the lawbreakers think they're being watched.

[Kendhni]

But if they don't announce it then they can not use it as an excuse for increasing local taxation.
Hav you ever noticed that when it comes to discussing the budgets for a particular department there will always be a sequence of news headlines about how that department can not afford this or that ... it is a game played out in the media in the hope that those with nothing better to do will start an online petition or letter writing campaign.