Do you believe surveillance cameras are a good idea?
Yes
No
Not sure
0voters
I just read where Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago wants over “2,000 surveillance cameras” to be place around the city to prevent crime and help people with emergencies. news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u … rveillance
Personally, I have mixed emotions about this idea. Certainly, if I were the one with the emergency or if I were being victimized on the street, I would want the police or someone to know about it so that I could be helped.
However, if I were walking down the street with my honey, shopping or just otherwise living a normal life, I would feel kind of strange knowing prying eyes were watching my every movement.
Ultimately, I think I would vote for the cameras because I just feel a little better knowing that a mugger or killer may not commit a crime simply because he/she knows someone is watching.
I would be interested in hearing how the rest of you feel about surveillance cameras being used on city streets.
Insist on royalties for net rights to the sex in the park sessions . Seriously, I have no problem with them. I worked in an area that was pretty rough. It was much better after the police started using surveilance cameras.
I believe in London there are plenty of areas with centralize surveillance.
But the funny thing is that in most urban setting there are enough “independent” surveillance camera to capture an incident.
So the question is should the cops have an easier time by having their own camera, or should they be force to go to every building management and kiosk cash machine to get a copy of their tapes.
But if these camera could zoom in on all the beautiful people…I might consider buying pay-per-view for them.
I’m totally in favour. Put them everywhere, the more the better.
If you’re out and about, you’re exposing yourself to the surveillance of anyone who cares to look your way, so why should it make any difference that your movements are being caught on camera?
We need to make good use of all means available to fight the amoral and antisocial scum who commit crime and bring misery into people’s lives, and surveillance cameras are an excellent weapon for winning that war. I’d much rather see the police armed with cameras than with guns and excessive powers of search and arrest.
[quote=“Omniloquacious”]I’m totally in favour. Put them everywhere, the more the better.
If you’re out and about, you’re exposing yourself to the surveillance of anyone who cares to look your way, so why should it make any difference that your movements are being caught on camera?
We need to make good use of all means available to fight the amoral and antisocial scum who commit crime and bring misery into people’s lives, and surveillance cameras are an excellent weapon for winning that war. I’d much rather see the police armed with cameras than with guns and excessive powers of search and arrest.[/quote]
Quite agree - the town I come from in Kent has them everywhere and it certainly makes the morons think twice. When it doesn’t it is easy for the old bill to identify them and pick them up (usually when in a coma at home following being a drunken drugged-up prat). Best thing ever! The only people who worry (“oh no - big brother - liberal bollocks”) are those worried about being caught!
As technology improves and cameras get smaller, cheaper etc, surveillance is only going to be more common, not just in the street - it will be much more common for people to have cameras fitted inside and outside their homes, in the car (for insurance purposes mostly - that’s already happening for some taxi firms), and Mission:impossible-style fish-eye cameras fitted on one’s clothing.
At the moment these small cameras have a buffer memory so you can press a button and save the past few minutes of film, but it’s inevitable that with time we are going to have a situation where we reach near-total surveillance saturation in our public and private lives which will be recorded and saved. You can imagine going home at the end of the day and reviewing your visual diary of the whole day. A wonderful tool but also open to abuse.
Having just been burgled, the police told me that the cameras were, basically, useless. Crooks now know they are everywhere and wear disguises or ski masks.
They are a waste of my tax dollars.
Footage from surveillance cameras is a staple part of the evening news in Taiwan, providing evidence that helps put people away for crimes they might otherwise have gotten away with.
Perverts, thieves, muggers, vandals, hit-and-runs would probably be very thankful if cameras were removed in order to save a buck.
I am ok with them. Not too worried about me personally being filmed because I believe the authorities don’t have the resources and time to look at each individual, unless you are thought to be a criminal or the area where you were caught on tape is under closer watch (crime committed or suspected to be be committed).
I also approve face recognition systems that relate to camera surveillance - I have nothing to fear and even I should get indicted by mistake I should be able to present an alibi.
Surveillance cameras have solved and probably prevented a lot of crimes, not everyone knows where they are located and wear some mask, helmet etc., in particular if the crime wasn’t planned or the criminal is just stupid. Happens - so I heard …
Aren’t most of those videos of the incident only? I mean they show the deal but you rarely can identify the individual.
“A 7-Eleven was robbed by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet and dark sunglasses…here he is…he is still at large.”
True, Wolf, but a lot of crimes happen when people don’t realize they are on camera like that gravel truck driver who backed up over his victim to finish the job and the perv in Tapei who would hang around in an alley so that he could grope school girls on their way home. The video evidence helped secure a conviction in each case. Those are just two examples.
Surveillance cameras definitely help catch criminals, but obviously not all of them, and I am certain cameras have a deterrent effect as well.
I like the boy who was stealing panies (I think that was on video) and the one where the steel door salesman was stealing doors to drum up business and replace his inventory at the same time.
Giving the government authorities the right to use these cameras means that they are creeping further and further to the point where EVERYTHING you do outside of your home will be recorded. Cameras are getting smaller, storage is getting cheaper. Image quality will only get better.
Oh–but we’ll catch criminals, right? And we can absolutely, positively trust our government employees to never do anything wrong with all of that footage they have of you, right? And there is SO MUCH FUCKING CRIME HAPPENING NOW, right? The crime rate’s getting higher, right?
And of course we should be absolutely so fucking scared shitless of the world outside of our homes that we should sign away every piece of the outside world that we used to be able to walk through unrecorded.
Right?
Now take a long hard look at some of the dorks you can find working for our law enforcement agencies.
Anyone who thinks this is a good idea is absolutely out of their fucking minds.
[quote=“Dahudze”]Christ, but you people are whacked.
Giving the government authorities the right to use these cameras means that they are creeping further and further to the point where EVERYTHING you do outside of your home will be recorded. Cameras are getting smaller, storage is getting cheaper. Image quality will only get better.
Oh–but we’ll catch criminals, right? And we can absolutely, positively trust our government employees to never do anything wrong with all of that footage they have of you, right? And there is SO MUCH FUCKING CRIME HAPPENING NOW, right? The crime rate’s getting higher, right?
And of course we should be absolutely so fucking scared shitless of the world outside of our homes that we should sign away every piece of the outside world that we used to be able to walk through unrecorded.
Right?
Now take a long hard look at some of the dorks you can find working for our law enforcement agencies.
Anyone who thinks this is a good idea is absolutely out of their fucking minds.[/quote]
You’re right, TonAng. There are evil nasty people just waiting to get you. In fact, there’s one in the park waiting for you RIGHT NOW! He’s looking for you!
Never mind that the murder rate in the US has actually gone down over the past 30 years. Never mind that the robbery rate is unchanged. Never mind that aggravated assault, burglary, and theft are down. Be afraid. Shiver in your shoes. And put cameras everywhere. You have every right to be so scared of boogeymen that you should have every minute of your public life recorded on video and in the hands of government officials–
–who are always to be trusted to do nothing but the right thing with that footage. ( :loco:)
. Seriously, I have no problem with them. I worked in an area that was pretty rough. It was much better after the police started using surveilance cameras.
even though they are not necessary for people like me.
:tic: :loco: