Because it seems that you should be. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville was on the radio on Tuesday morning bemoaning the fact that only 3% of London's street robberies are being solved with the use of CCTV footage. This, despite the often-quoted statistic that the UK in general and London in particular are more densely covered by CCTV cameras than anywhere else on the planet.
He was referring specifically to cameras set up through the joint action of the police (which wants them) and local authorities (which must give approval for their installation).
Det Ch Insp Neville cited two problems in particular: first, he said, cameras were proliferating with insufficient thought as to how they should be used... officers find it boring, for instance, trawling through the video records looking for evidence. Second, the cameras apparently fail to serve as a deterrent because "people aren't afraid of the cameras".
What a picture that paints. It would, in many senses, be disturbing enough if we walked under the CCTV umbrella feeling cosily safe and protected by it. But the idea of living in the shadow of a network of cameras which we fear is altogether more chilling.
I'm guessing Det Ch Insp Neville isn't from the Met's PR section.
![[RSS Newsfeed]](/themes/sotto/images/valid-rss.png)
![[This is a Roller site]](/themes/sotto/images/roller-logo.gif){kind=logo}