1
Apr
2016
By Calvin at 01:00 GMT, 9 years ago
A Dutch police source, who wishes to remain anonymous at this time, has recently brought my attention to a new Home Office crime prevention initiative to install CCTV cameras to every house in England – for free!
It is understood that a major Dutch CCTV systems manufacturer approached the British government last year about their idea that would virtually eliminate street crime and burglary. The idea comes from a highly successful and well-researched project in the small town of Overzeen in the north of the Netherlands.
All of the town’s three-and-a-half thousand homes were fitted with a networked system of digital low-light colour CCTV cameras. Although there were exceptions, odd numbered houses had them installed at the front and even numbered houses had them installed at the back, providing the largest CCTV camera coverage ever achieved for a single networked CCTV system. According to the manufacturer the results have been amazing. The town had 1416 crimes during the year before the installation and in the year afterwards there were just 13! This has saved the population and the authorities millions of Euros and consequently there are plans to begin extending the scheme to cover the whole country.
Before the go-ahead can be given to begin installing in England, which already has the largest number of cameras per capita in the world, a number of changes will have to be made to the Data Protection Act, but it is understood that the changes are unlikely to be opposed by parliament.
The system includes automatic facial recognition software (FRS), which allows the operators to constantly track the whereabouts of any targeted individual while they are within the range of the CCTV network. Because it’s completely automatic there is no need for the operator to manually search for the individual because the system simply knows where they are, or at least where they were last seen. With such restrictions imposed on the individual there’s simply nowhere to hide. Each time they step out of their home they are automatically watched and tracked and as a consequence they cannot commit a crime without being seen.
The FRS is so advanced that it can tell if the suspect has had their hair cut or even their moustache trimmed! It can even recognise brands of sunglasses being worn; particularly useful during the summer when so many of them are stolen from department stores.
But what have been the unforeseen effects in Overzeen? My Dutch police source told me that there had been a noticeable increase in the number of wigs, false noses and masks sold at the local joke and costume store and you could pick out the known criminals simply because they were constantly walking around town “all dressed up and looking stupid. Anyone walking around the town dressed like the Joker or the Batman is instantly recognised by the camera system and tracked anyway, so these people simply cannot get away with it"
Apparently, some civil liberty groups in the Netherlands had concerns about the proposals to begin with, but even these people have started to rethink their objections, which now focus largely on how long a known criminal might be targeted by the system. This, they say, is because wearing false noses and masks etc, although plainly ridiculous and self-defeating, can become excessively expensive and is surely against their human rights.
The Dutch source has hinted that the first English camera system is to be installed in the small town of Crediton in Devon (where there isn’t a fancy dress shop) with the first ones going up at the end of Spring. Householders who refuse to have a camera installed will face a fine of up to £2,000.
I pointed out to my source that fining people was going a bit too far, but he responded by saying that it was no worse than being fined if you don’t wear seatbelts or crash helmets, or if you drink-drive. He said “It’s about preventing the crime and saving the lives; it’s simply the same thing. Persons have to understand that once you step out of the line there is no going to the back and if you constantly think you have to wear a disguise then that’s not our problem”
According to the source the cameras used for the system are simply stuck onto the house walls with a product similar to ‘no-nails’ and are no larger than a box of household matches and because they use the latest and most efficient batteries they will keep working for up to two years. When the batteries run down the whole camera is replaced, rather than the battery.
As a bonus the local Wi-Fi has to be boosted to ensure that the cameras work efficiently, so the spinoff is likely to be free internet for everyone too!
So, what do you think of that then? Will any of you be objecting? It seems the worst that can happen is for us to see many more people wearing funny noses wandering around the streets, but at least you’ll know they’re the villains. I think we all need to get ready for the big CCTV camera giveaway. ‘Big Brother’ has finally arrived!
For much more detailed information about how this might affect you and to have your say please follow this link
