Ask HN: How do the London Riots reflect on CCTV Camera culture?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2869193

by kristopher • 15 years ago

3 4 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

One would think that with so many cameras in and around London, that many would not take to rioting for fear of being caught.

I am generally against the idea of a CCTV network, although do events like these make a case for CCTV?

Likewise, could it be said that Londoners have grown too accustom to CCTV life that they have simply ignored its existence?

hcho• 15 years ago

Did you notice the looters wearing a hoodie and a scarf? They are not identifiable by CCTV by doing that. No fear of being caught what so ever.

I guess the only incidents CCTVs are useful are the £spur of the moment" crimes.

ig1• 15 years ago

Most of the looters only pulled scarves over their faces when they got close to the scene of the crime, if you look at the images they police have released a lot of them are from other places in the city and from on public transport where they've identified groups based upon the clothes they were wearing before they covered their faces.

Examples: http://www.flickr.com/photos/metropolitanpolice

ayers• 15 years ago

What are your thoughts behind being against a CCTV network?

cmontgomeryb• 15 years ago

I have very mixed feelings about CCTV, but generally I don't mind it (note that this is different to being 'for' it). I worked for a company writing software for CCTV operators, recording/playback etc and I heard of various crimes being solved and our images being used to convict a murderer, people who caused damage to property, thieves and so on. Very good feeling.

I don't mind the fact that I'm recorded when I walk down the street - not because of the flawed 'I have nothing to hide' argument, but simply because I can't think of a reason that I would mind. Most cameras aren't actively watched unless there is a specific reason to, and the recordings are deleted usually after 30 days. On the one hand you may dislike the camera watching you - but you'd be thrilled if it recorded the guy who mugs you on your way home and leads to his arrest and subsequent conviction. I do feel safer knowing this on the occasion that I'm on my own in an area that I don't feel safe. Maybe this is due to working with CCTV in the past, I'm more acutely aware of its presence then I might be otherwise.

London's CCTV will lead to literally hundreds of arrests of these scumbags (I live near an area that was involved, and have family even closer) that would otherwise have gone completely unpunished. Many more of the people involved in the riots are having a hard time sleeping tonight then if there were no CCTV.

@hcho - ig1 is correct. Most of the imagery you're seeing on TV is at the scene of the riot. Images of CCTV in the surrounding areas will be scoured over the coming weeks, many covered faces will have been uncovered a few streets away. Also watching where people came from can help to find associations - for example they arrest somebody who was seen on CCTV to have arrived with somebody who is not yet identified.

Ask HN: How do the London Riots reflect on CCTV Camera culture?

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