Friday, September 25, 2009

Who Uses CCTV Systems

By Christopher Williams

CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) is a widely used visual surveillance technology designed to monitor movement in a variety of designated environments. Casinos and banks initially used the technology to scrutinize the behavior of their customers. Then police departments started using CCTV as part of their crime prevention strategy. CCTV is currently used in many private homes as an effective home security devise.

CCTV is surveillance system used by many department stores, convenience stores, and public and private buildings to track suspicious movement in a designated area. CCTV in prisons has made it possible to keep a watch on all areas without an increase in staffing. Many municipalities monitor the flow of traffic through by placing CCTV along busy roads and highways. Europe, especially England, has covered highly trafficked areas with CCTV as a fight against terrorism.

No one has more CCTV than Great Britain. What was initially a security system used by banks has proliferated into the use of surveillance systems by most town, cities, parking areas and stations. In the city London, approximately 500,000 private buildings use CCTV. There are close to 5 million cameras spread out throughout all of Great Britain.

Despite the wide use of CCTV systems throughout Great Britain, according to police officials, the technology has helped solve only 3 percent of crimes. It's been suggested that better police training in the use of the new technology would result in improved use of CCTV images during trials. Another problem is that police officers have been less than eager to spend hours watching mundane traffic tapes.

While CCTV is primarily considered a crime deterring surveillance system, it has other uses, as well. Many special sports and concerts events include live on-site video displays for easy viewing. Industrial plants are using CCTV equipment to observe an environment not suitable for humans from a control room. In another instance, a wildlife program wanted to record the birth of a baby gorilla at night. The solution was to use an infrared illuminator with an infrared sensitive camera, which recorded the first gorilla birth in captivity.

CCTV is considered by some to be an invasion of privacy. This has led to debates whether evidence obtained with the help of CCTV systems is actually admissible in court. Advocates for public housing have denounced the use of CCTV in public housing projects as a means of "social control." Most important, some believe that CCTV does not hinder crime but merely displaces it.

Proponents of CCTV claim that the cameras are surveilling public areas and are therefore not an intrusion of privacy. The events of 9/11 made people security conscious. The rapid identification and arrest of the terrorists responsible for the 2005 London subway bombings turned much of the public in favor of surveillance cameras.

About the Author:

No comments: