A question for you Britons here.......

[The Harkinator]

murders, rapists and paedofiles have all been caught because there faces were shown on CCTV as they went to and from wherever they did the deed so I tolerate them so long as these horrible people keep getting caught out by them.

But if the Daily Mail is to be believed they jump off the walls and look into our houses to constantly spy on us and our wheelie bins.

 

[TStormer]

I hate CCTV cameras and I'm kinda pissed about how casually they are thrown around TBH. So long as they don't start tracking us via oyster cards and cams on a whim (in london) then I won't kick up TOO much of a fuss.

What I do plan to kick up a fuss about, however is the new restrictions on strike action.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Can't say that they've ever bothered me to be honest. But then again, I don't actually commit crimes, so there's no reason that they would. Also, they tend to be more around large town centres, so where I am there aren't that many anyway (that I can see).

I think that they are useful to some extent, but as Hookman said, most criminals have the sense to cover their faces anyway, so they are rendered a bit pointless.

Amused me on that Russell Howard show, the English Defence League, complaining about 'Muslamics' and wearing the Burka, while wearing a balaclava.

IF Cameron wanted to earn some brownie points, he'd replace a few of these cameras with visible police officers. I know you can't just hire people and have them on the streets tomorrow, but most people want a more visible police presence, and they'd be more effective at preventing crime than a dozen cameras.

As for the cameras telling people what to do, it was a trial in one area if I remember correctly. Let's face it, most people are being a dick in public, mostly at night, as they think no-one's looking. Having a camera go 'You there, in the Primark hoodie, stop kicking that bin! might actually shock them into stopping being a twat for a bit.

In the end tho, a camera isn't seeing anything a police officer in that area wouldn't see, it's just a question of money.

 

[RagTagBand]

Their cost justifies their service, unlike a ton of other things which don't but that people dont seem to mind. But people are idiots so it's unsurprising that they'll mostly just parrot whatever Jeremy Clarkson says.

Speed cameras have been proven to cause accidents in quite a few places rather than stop them. Parroting facts isn't parroting the person who makes you aware of them

Do you know what causes more accidents than speed cameras? speeding. I'd be willing to bet that a good portion of the accidents caused by speed cameras are actually caused by people speeding, going "OH SHIT A CAMERA" and then slamming on the brakes losing control of their car.

It is not the cameras fault you're breaking the law and traveling at a speed that has been deemed dangerous.

You cannot blame speed cameras for causing accidents due to people speeding and needing to suddenly brake any more than you can blame a Judge for being the number #1 cause of people being sent to jail. It is the criminals fault, not the thing that catches the criminal behavior.

If you're driving safely, and at the speed limit, A speed camera is no more a hindrance to your driving than a postbox or street light. You'd never need to look for them and you'd never need to quickly change your driving speed/behavior.

 

[Varrdy]

Btw the term is "Britons" you yankie dumbass.
Also the word is said "Al-oo-min-ee-um" you hick prick
I'll stop now.

Good idea, because you've made yourself look very stupid.

As someone who has bothered to educate themself in something before sounding off like an expert in it, very little annoys me quite as much as the fuckwits who act as though just because they're from England they've got some kind of automatic expertise in the language. It's not your ignorance that gets to me, but your arrogance is unbearable.

It is neither pronounced nor spelled 'Aluminium' in American English and there's nothing wrong with that. It is 'Aluminum'. The discoverer of the element (Sir Humphrey something... I forget) used both spellings (plus a few other alternatives) in his work on the subject and the word did not come into common use until much, much later. At that time the English settled on one spelling and the Americans on another, neither has any superior value over the other. They're just different.

Also, it's 'Yankee'.

And if you're wondering, I'm English born and bred.

I'll let the real topic carry on now. As you were everyone!

-Bim

You beat me to it.

Wardy

 

[FlipC]

To tidy certain points up:

Speed cameras use a single camera to track a vehicle between two points on the road and determine its speed.

Some CCTV cameras now come with both microphones and loudspeakers

While I expect city centre cameras to be monitored during the 'peak hours of naughtiness' they aren't monitored all the time. They're also trying to watch multiple screens at once and this is likely to grow as the number of them increase. Therefore as I said they're best used in conjunction with traditional enforcement rather than as a replacement.

Yes people have been caught thanks to CCTV, but many more haven't due to covering their faces then leaving the CCTV covered area.

In terms of car-parking companies. Except for those council-run ones they're private individuals and they can't fine you. What they are doing is invoicing you for breaching the contract/terms and conditions you agreed to by using their facilities.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

I'm not from Britain but it's quite obvious the cameras do squat to prevent crime. It drove crime even more underground so basically, whilst murders don't occur in bright daylight they still do occur in back alleys and such making it harder for the police to actually catch criminals. You can't convict someone of murder when there's scarce evidence and no witnesses.

 

[Varrdy]

CCTV does NOT invade anyone's privacy unless the camera is pointed through your window. It is not some evil government scheme to spy on people and it wont ever lead to a Big Brother state because most of our politicians don't want to upset the Status Quo - they are making a decent living and, until recently, were raking it in on "expenses". Besides, half of those numpties wouldn't notice the public backlash to any move towards totalitarianism until it's too late because they have no idea what the public mood is despite everyone telling them what it is.

Sorry...

CCTV doesn't make me feel threatened or invaded in any way, shape or form. Cameras are only located in public places and while their effectiveness is highly questionable, the simple truth is that I hardly notice them when I'm out and about and pay them little or no mind when I do.

Wardy

 

[Valkyrie101]

Do I object to being seen in the street? No. Newsflash: when you're in a public place, people can see you. You have no privacy irrespective of the cameras.

 

[Doclector]

Actually, CCTV is one of the few things I don't get paranoid about. True, outside they can see you everywhere, but then again, so can everyone else most of the time, and chances are if you're delibrately somewhere no one can see you, you're probably doing something illegitimate.

If you draw your curtains, as I'm sure everyone does anyway if they want to stay private in their homes, they can't see you inside your own home.

In summary, it is a little frightening how many cameras there are in britain, but the benefits to crime prevention and crime solving more than make up for that. Besides, it's kinda nice to have somewhere to show a middle finger to where-ever you are if you get annoyed at the government.

 

[AwesomeNinjaPowers]

Nope cause I never leavethe house ¬_¬

 

[Hawkmoon269]

Fine by me. Even with the Tories in charge, I pretty much trust my government on this sort of thing.

 

[omega 616]

As I understand, the UK is the country with the most surveillance cameras than any other. I'm from the US and so don't understand much about this. So I decided to ask.

My question for you members from the good old UK, does this bother you? Do you feel your privacy has been breached?

Thanks for any input.

Lets put it like this, I would much rather have a bunch of camera's watching me than a bunch of cops with guns.

Never notice them unless you look for them, there always on top of buildings or as black blobs in stores or buses. (yeah, there's about 5 on each modern bus)

It means cops can track people a lot better, we have shows that show people watching all the camera's and how there followed from street to street as they run.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear. I'm not find of the over surveillance, but it's helped catch criminals, so hey, go nuts.

 

[FamoFunk]

Can't say I ever notice them or they actually effect me. I don't get up to any weird or bad shit, so it's all good

 

[UltraDeth]

I don't notice any cameras in the district I live in. And besides, I'm an every day Good Guy Greg, I don't ever cause trouble

 

[orangeban]

Well, they aren't looking into my house are they? What the hell are you doing on public streets that you don't want people looking at, to all you people who object to them. Violating your privacy? It isn't your privacy if it's in a public area, and I think what you do in a public area is very much the concern of the government (presuming that it could very well be illegal)

 

[Booze Zombie]

No, I do not.

Our culture seems to promote it, I haven't lost anything.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I think the saying goes "You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide"

The cameras are normally high up away from sight lines so it's not like you see a camera wherever you look, and without them we would have caught half as many bastard rioters, let alone bastard criminals in general in the last decade.

Does it bother me that we have them? Yes and no. What really bothers me is that we need them in the first place. But while they are helping put criminals away I'd rather we kept them.

 

[LordFisheh]

It seems ridiculous to criticise them in most cases. They're set up in public places; if you don't want to be seen doing something, don't do it in public. It's like complaining that someone you didn't notice is 'invading your privacy' as you stand in a public park.

I also think it takes a great deal of arrogance to think the the Man, the government, the corporations, the Templars or whoever actually care in the slightest what most of us are doing. You could complain that a camera is allowing the authorities to watch you but in the vast majority of cases, frankly, you aren't remotely important to anyone and nobody has even a slight interest in what you're doing. The man looking at the screen isn't trying to read other peoples' banal text messages; he's either looking for criminals or busy sending his own.