CCTV Hull

Here’s a report from United Press International that makes disturbing reading - rather than helping solve crime, CCTV suveillance simply makes crime evolve:

Big brother is big business in the battle against crime in Britain, but photo-shy villains have developed a bag of new tricks to elude the gaze of thousands of surveillance cameras that now dot its cities, towns and villages.

With 1.5 million closed-circuit television systems watching its streets, office buildings, schools, shopping centers and roads, Britain is one of the most closely monitored nations on the planet, and the government is spending another $115 million for more TV eyes.

But crime is soaring across the country. In London, a city of 8 million people, murder is going on at a record pace. Street robbery, the very crime that CCTV is supposed to be best at deterring, will reach 50,000 this year.

It mentions some disturbing tactics:

Many of the villains are adapting. Some are targeting luxury cars on the move so that any view a TV camera gets of them is fleeting at best. Others conceal their street muggings by grabbing their victims in a clinch that, on CCTV, looks like nothing more than a romantic hug.

Police say criminals discouraged by the prospect of an unwanted TV appearance in London or other cities take to commuting to the countryside where prospective victims are more trusting and the pickings are easier.

Does CCTV have to cover the entire UK just to help against criminal activity? And is it even helping fight crime when so many petty criminals get away with it, even when caught, anyway?

Wasn’t 250 CCTV cameras enough? Not so according to Hull City Council. They wanted 240 more:

The crackdown on city centre crime is moving forward with work underway to install a further 240 CCTV cameras across the city and the City Council preparing to add state-of-the-art video equipment to its control centre.

Thg new digital video recording system is due for delivery in December and should be ready to switch on when the first of the cameras go “Live” in January. This will be followed by further cameras coming on-line during February and March, with thg project due to be completed around the end of March.

The new cameras, currently being installed, are additional to the existing highly successful 250 CCTV units, and are being placed at strategic locations and sites around thg city. These sites have been identified following a comprehensive consultation exercise with Humberside Police and local community groups. Tha cameras will monitor residential and shopping areas to help meet both the City Council and Community Safety Partnership’s objectives of reducing crime and the fear of crime.

Well, here’s the first announcement Kingston Upon Hull City Council made about the CCTV - consultation about the positions of over 250 cameras:

The Hull city wide CCTV system, one of the biggest worldwide, takes an important step forward today (Tuesday 30th April) with the unveiling of up to 250 sites where the cameras need to be located.

Residents, community groups, local police officers along with council members and officers took part in a major consultation to find out which areas of the city could benefit the most from CCTV.

They nominated their top priority areas for CCTV and this information, along with detailed analysis of areas where there have been incidents in the past, has led to the production of a citywide ‘map’ highlighting 240 proposed sites for cameras. The main targets of the system are burglary, vehicle crime, violent crime, disorder and public reassurance.