'Talking' CCTV scolds offenders
"Talking" CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or
committing anti-social behaviour are to be extended to 20 areas across
England.
They are already used in Middlesbrough where people seen
misbehaving can be told to stop via a loudspeaker, controlled by
control centre staff.
About ?00,000 will be spent adding speaker facilities to existing cameras.
Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire said the government should be "very careful" over the cameras.
Home Secretary John Reid told BBC News there would be
some people, "in the minority who will be more concerned about what
they claim are civil liberties intrusions".
"But the vast majority of people find that their life is
more upset by people who make their life a misery in the inner cities
because they can't go out and feel safe and secure in a healthy, clean
environment because of a minority of people," he added.
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What
really upsets people is their night out being destroyed or their
environment being destroyed by a fairly small minority of people
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The talking cameras did not constitute "secret surveillance", he said.
"It's very public, it's interactive."
Competitions would also be held at schools in many of the areas for children to become the voice of the cameras, Mr Reid said.
Downing Street's "respect tsar", Louise Casey, said the cameras "nipped problems in the bud" and reduced bureaucracy.
"It gets across the message, 'please don't litter our
streets because someone else will have to pay to pick up that litter
again'," she told BBC News.
"Half a billion pounds a year is spent picking up litter."
'Scarecrow policing'
Mr Brokenshire told the BBC he had a number of concerns about the use of the talking cameras.
"Whether this is moving down a track of almost
'scarecrow' policing rather than real policing - actually insuring that
we have more bobbies on the beat - I think that's what we really want
to see, albeit that an initiative like this may be an effective tool in
certain circumstances.
"We need to be very careful about applying this more generally."
The talking cameras will be installed in
Southwark, Barking and Dagenham, in London, Reading, Harlow, Norwich,
Ipswich, Plymouth, Gloucester, Derby, Northampton, Mansfield,
Nottingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Wirral, Blackpool, Salford, South
Tyneside and Darlington.
In Middlesbrough, staff in a control centre monitor
pictures from 12 talking cameras and can communicate directly with
people on the street.
Local councillor Barry Coppinger says the scheme has prevented fights and criminal damage and cut litter levels.
"Generally, I think it has raised awareness that the
town centre is a safe place to visit and also that we are keeping an
eye open to make sure it is safe," he said.
But opponent and campaigner Steve Hills said: "Apart
from being absurd, I think it's rather sad that we should have faceless
cameras barking at us on orders from who? Who sets these cameras up?"
There are an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain.
A recent study by the government's privacy watchdog, the
Information Commissioner, warned that Britain was becoming a
"surveillance society".
老兄話令他想起<<1984>>。
我就話估唔到係英國。
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CCTV in action
