Council CCTV cameras triple in decade

We wrote the other day about how the oft-quoted figure of 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain is utter Zebu and explained the less than scientific way the number arose. We’re glad to say that somebody is trying to find out how many cameras there spying on us.

Big Brother Watch put in Freedom of Information requests to all the councils in the UK and found that 418 local authorities control almost 60,000 cameras. This is three times as many as 10 years ago. To my horror, I discover that my own borough, Wandsworth, is the most watched in London. With a Metropolitan Police study in August concluding that only one crime a year is solved for every 1,000 cameras, Alex Deane of Big Brother Watch says:

“Local councils across Britain are creating enormous networks of CCTV surveillance at great expense, but the evidence for the ability of CCTV to deter or solve crimes is sketchy at best.”

We still have no idea of the total number of CCTV cameras as the figure does not include those which are privately operated. It is clear, however, that CCTV is seen as a cheaper way of fighting crime than using real policemen. It is no doubt pure coincidence that CCTV cameras raise revenue for councils from motorists who stray into bus lanes or stop in the wrong place.

Are we being spied on inappropriately? Look at this photo from Big Brother Watch, showing a CCTV camera above the Spread Eagle pub in Wandsworth High Street. As it’s only a short walk away from me, I went to have a look. It is a net-curtained window, so presumably some-one lives there. Click on the photograph to see it in more detail.

Relevant posts:
How many CCTV cameras are there in Britain? Nobody has a bloody clue
Identity Minister forgets her own identity