Every few months since it came to power, The Government has released a new set of crime figures showing that “recorded” crime has fallen. The keyword here is “recorded.”
One of the reasons politicians like to cite for their alleged success in dealing with crime is the success of their policy of installing CCTV cameras everywhere but independent figures released today show that CCTV cameras do not cut crime at all.
There are several very logical reasons for believing the independent figures.
Many of the cameras are not working at any particular crime. This is because they are installed and operated by private contractors financed by Public / Private Finance agreements. This gives the operators an incentive to tick the boxes on the forms without carrying out the necessary maintenance work.
Criminals know where cameras are and commit their offences round the corner.
The fashion industry helps the criminal fraternity. Did you think hooded sweatshirts and Burberry caps were just a fashion statement?
Defenders of CCTV claim the technology is good for identifying wrongdoers by the logos on their clothes. Imagine some lawyer having to stand up in court and say, “In the photograph on the left the jury will see the accused walking in High Street wearing a blue sweatshirt on which a Nike logo is clearly visible. The photograph on the right from the same camera 30 minutes later shows a group of young men robbing an older man. Their faces obscured due to their hood being raised but one is wearing a blue sweatshirt bearing the Nike logo. This must prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused.
Yeah right. Any jury would convict.
The cameras are most effective as a weapon against street crime but the images from them are too fuzzy and indistinct to be used as evidence in court. They are best used to monitor trouble spots and direct police patrols to where a presence is needed. Trouble is, so much money has been wasted on this technology, the police forces have had to reduce numbers of feet on the street.
Our Government of control freaks will defend their policy beyond reason of course, they can never admit to failure. To compound their folly, even now they are gearing up to introduce a new generation of surveillance cameras claimed by manufacturers to be capable of zooming in on a target to photograph the iris. The data will then be checked against the biometric information database compiled for the National ID card project.
Don’t know about you, but I am going to be investing my life savings in firms that make sunglasses.
TODAY WE COMENTED ON:
Tim Worstall asks "Who is Justine Bateman?
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06/05/08 @ 15:56