Om Pandya, Staff Writer
Ideology: Conservative | Writing from: New York, NY

Walking through the streets of London, one has the quite unnerving sensation of being watched. It is not just a sensation; the city of London alone has in operation over one million CCTV cameras costing a total of 200 million pounds. In a typical workday, the average person is filmed by no less than three hundred cameras that are recording almost every alleyway and bus stop.

Civil libertarians cry foul at the invasion of privacy and raise fears of a state much like the one in George Orwell’s 1984, where cameras record all actions by citizens, even in their own houses. But the truth is that despite what many say, freedom of speech is as strong as ever in the United Kingdom, shown by the fact that at least one or two protests are usually being held outside the Houses of Parliament at any given time. It is a fantasy to ever believe that a democracy as strong as what they currently have will fall into tyranny in the near future because of CCTV, but the conspiracy theorists have one thing right – the cameras are ineffective in stopping crime and an inefficient burden on taxpayers.

According to a report by the Metropolitan police, only 3% of street robberies were solved using CCTV cameras. Another report admits that for every 1,000 cameras installed in the U.K., only one crime is solved. In fact, of the five boroughs which are the most “wired”, four of them have a crime clear-up rate that is below average, showing absolutely no correlation between cameras and catching criminals.

The argument given by the supporters of CCTV cameras is that the cameras are not meant to stop crime but rather deter it from occurring in the first place, but the crime statistics show that although there was a large drop in crime this year, before that the crime rate grew steadily and did not correlate with the number of cameras. In fact, the number of criminals who blatantly steal and kill in front of cameras goes to show how little they fear being caught by CCTV.

Much of the blame for the inefficiency of the system actually lies with the fact that while the city was buying cameras by the thousands, no one discussed how to use the images in court or how to create a database with which to identify criminals. Even so, the technologically advanced solution of wearing a hood while committing a crime foils even the most advanced system.

The main supporters of CCTV are deluded into thinking that the government is a perfect and well-meaning entity, even though the civil servants who operate the CCTV cameras are as prone to mistakes and abusing power as the rest of us. Just because a crime is caught on tape doesn’t mean that it prosecuted correctly.

If we have to curb a few civil liberties in order to ensure that society does not collapse then so be it, but at least make sure we are getting enough security to justify the loss of privacy and money. The cameras that line London’s streets are ineffective in stopping crime and the money used on them can be put to far better use by hiring more police officers, rehabilitation for juvenile offenders, or even more street lighting. Even Detective Chief Inspector Mike Neville, head of the Visual Images, Identification and Detections Office department in Scotland Yard has admitted the failure of the system saying that it was “an utter fiasco”. As long as there is a motive for crime and a way for crime to occur, it will not disappear under the aegis of technology.