Transparency of global privacy news brought to Identity Trust by ISPI news service:
| 'No more CCTV', cries top CCTV cop |
|
Shetlands crime wave under control By Chris Williams Posted in Policing, 21st July 2009 12:06 GMT The man in charge of the Met's CCTV unit has criticised the way police use surveillance and called for no more cameras to be installed. Detective Chief Inspector Mike Neville said footage from cameras was often not used because forces do not have systems or staff to retrieve images. He added that serious crime that could be solved by CCTV was not, because of poorly targeted investment. Comparing London to other parts of the country, he said: "Because we had CCTV first, we made all the mistakes. "And the mistake was spend it on kit, don't spend it on people or processes and that's what's gone wrong. Unless there is a systematic way of gathering CCTV then it will continue not to be as effective as it could be." Neville was responding to the findings of a Newsnight investigation, broadcast on Monday night. <| Powered by www.ISPIClips.com |> He continued: "What I would say is we've got enough cameras, let's stop now, we don't want any more cameras. "Let's invest that money that's available and use it for the training of people, and the processes to make sure whatever we've captured is effectively used." Recent news stories prompted the Information Commissioner (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/27/ico_police_cctv/) to warn police against pressurising businesses into installing cameras to record their customers. Neville's intervention marks the first time a top CCTV officer has spoken out against further roll out. In February a Lords committee warned (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/06/lords_reject_government_data/) that the expansion of CCTV and other surveillance threatened personal freedoms. As if to underline Britain's status as the West's most monitored society, the BBC's Freedom of Information requests showed that authorities on the Shetland Islands have more CCTV cameras than the San Francisco Police Department. ® Related stories CO tells cops to behave on CCTV (27 May 2009) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/27/ico_police_cctv/ 'Thieving' sperm whale caught on CCTV (22 May 2009) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/22/sperm_whale_blaggers_cctv/ IPCC U-turn on Tomlinson CCTV (14 April 2009) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/14/ipcc_u_turn/ Who snapped first? (9 April 2009) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/09/g20_vids/ © Copyright 1998-2009 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Copyright © 1998-2009, Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) PO Box 201 - Crofton, British Columbia - V0R 1R0 - (250) 246-2784 ISPI@ PrivacyNews .com www.PrivacyNews.com www.ISPI.info ISPI Clips: North America's leading privacy-news service More Than a Decade of Faithful & Trusted Delivery ISPI Clips include news, opinion & information articles on Identity, Surveillance and Privacy Issues from all points-of-view. Inclusion of an article does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of its content or opinion by ISPI. ISPI Clips is distributed free--as a benefit to ISPI members--for research and educational purposes only. |