Câmaras CCTV falham no combate ao crime nas ruas do Reino Unido

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police

This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday May 06 2008 on p1 of the Top stories section. It was last updated at 12:05 on May 07 2008.

Há não muito tempo e após os diversos assassinatos na noite da cidade do Porto, no forum da TSF assisti à discussão sobre a utilização de câmaras de vigilância na cidade, creio que o presidente da Autarquia de Coimbra defendia também a sua utilização nessa cidade.

Durante esse forum diversas pessoas desejosas de um estado policial total defendiam com unhas e dentes a utilização deste tipo de vigilância, não se importando minimamente com os seus direitos, com a sua falta de privacidade, com o estado Orwelliano que se está a tentar impôr aos cidadãos a todo o custo, desde câmaras em tudo quanto é canto de centros comerciais e lojas, passando por cartões de débito e crédito com chip, telemóveis que estão constantemente a enviarem a posição do seu utilizador para as suas antenas de transmissão, enfim, as pessoas por e simplesmente não se apercebem que a liberdade que pensam ter, é pura ilusão, neste momento devemos ter menos liberdade que no tempo da velha senhora.

E estes defensores de mais ataques às nossas liberdades e direitos humanos, não se podem comparar com os mais novos que não se importam de dar de barato eles próprios toda a sua liberdade e privacidade, através de webcams, chats, instant messaging, hi5, facebook etc etc.

Mas esta pequena introdução serve apenas para descrever o artigo que acabo de ler e que nos informa que as câmaras de vigilância usadas no Reino Unido, são completamente ineficientes no combate ao crime ou na sua prevenção.

Lembro que o Reino Unido, especialmente Londres é a cidade do mundo mais vigiada por câmaras CCTV.

Algumas conclusões da polícia do Reino Unido:

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

Use of CCTV images for court evidence has so far been very poor, according to Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, the officer in charge of the Metropolitan police unit. "CCTV was originally seen as a preventative measure," Neville told the Security Document World Conference in London. "Billions of pounds has been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter fiasco: only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV. There's no fear of CCTV. Why don't people fear it? [They think] the cameras are not working."

E o que se faz quando se comprova que este estado policial não funciona?
Simples, continua-se com a asneira e invade-se ainda mais a privacidade das pessoas.

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

The Viido unit is beginning to establish a London-wide database of images of suspects that are cross-referenced by written descriptions. Interest in the technology has been enhanced by recent police work, in which officers back-tracked through video tapes to pick out terrorist suspects. In districts where the Viido scheme is working, CCTV is now helping police in 15-20% of street robberies.

"We are [beginning] to collate images from across London," Neville said. "This has got to be balanced against any Big Brother concerns, with safeguards. The images are from thefts, robberies and more serious crimes. Possibly the [database] could be national in future."

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

"We are also going to start putting out [pictures] on the internet, on the Met police website, asking 'who is this guy?'. If criminals see that CCTV works they are less likely to commit crimes."

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

He said that there were discussions with biometric companies "on a regular basis" about developing the technology to search digitised databases and match suspects' images with known offenders. "Sometimes when they put their [equipment] in operational practice, it's not as wonderful as they said it would be, " he said. "I suspect [Find] has been put on hold until the technology matures. Before you can digitise every offender's image you have to make sure the lighting is right and it's a good picture. It's a major project. We are still some way from a national database. There are still ethical and technical issues to consider."

O pior é que são as próprias pessoas a pedirem mais, levadas por esta onda criada pelas televisões, de sociedades perfeitas sem crime, como se isso alguma vez fosse possível, e pelas massivas campanhas de desinformação levadas a cabo pelos diversos media sobre a suposta "guerra ao terrorismo" e ao crime em geral, quando na realidade os maiores crimes são cometidos pelos diversos estados, ou por puras mentiras propagadas por esses mesmos media, como foi o caso dos atentados de 11 de Setembro, as invasões do Afeganistão e Iraque e provavelmente do Irão, bem como a mentira do Kosovo, já para não mencionar a do tráfego de armas e narcóticos levadas a cabo pela CIA e outros serviços secretos.

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police | UK news | The Guardian

The charity Victim's Voice, which supports relatives of those who have been murdered, said it supported more effective use of CCTV systems. "Our view is that anything that helps get criminals off the street and prevents crime is good," said Ed Usher, one of the organisation's trustees. "If handled properly it can be a superb preventative tool."

The Truth about Facebook!

WATCHFUL EYES

"In October of 2002, Londoners woke up one morning to a startling sight. Posters that looked like props from a movie version of George Orwell's 1984 were plastered all along London bus routes. At first many people thought it was a guerilla art campaign mounted by privacy and civil rights advocates. After all, England now has more security cameras aimed at its population than any other country on earth, with 1.5 million police cameras installed by authorities in urban environs. Unfortunately the posters were not a hoax, but part of an official anti-crime campaign mounted by the Metropolitan Police and London's mass transit provider, the CCTV. The poster's message to the public is that they are under constant surveillance - and so they should feel "secure."

A modern British Poster to make Orwell blush - Mark Vallen © Dec. 2002.

in www.art-for-a-change.com is owned and operated by Mark Vallen ©. All text by Mark Vallen.