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Video Surveillance
In the United States the intrusion of video surveillance has not had the smooth ride it has with the mildly authoritarian police presence in the United Kingdom. Civil rights organizations, citizens groups and other privacy groups have resisted wholesale introduction of wide scale video surveillance networks, as in London. How long this will last is anyone's guess, as the public is fed up with mindless Gang warfare and the huge increase in violence, murders and robberies in the Cities of the United States. In Philadelphia we have seen multiple cases recently of policemen gunned down by Black teenagers, stealing a "Fist full of Dollars" from fast food restaurants and convenience stores. Their brutal lifestyle will result in a cry for better technology to make the streets safe, regardless of the resistance of NAACP and other organizations. Like it or not we are living in the age of electronic surveillance, in stores, shopping malls, workplaces, road junctions and everywhere criminals can rob us of possessions, even our lives. The growth of violent, anti social crime will be countered by a growth in video surveillance. The only other alternative is the violent youth of today learns respect and how to act in a social law abiding manner, and that looks like us having to wait till Hell Freezes Over before that becomes a reality. We look at the technology, software and the growth of electronic surveillance. More shortly.......
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The unstoppable creep of electronic surveillance systems has become a barely noticed aspect of modern living. In the UK for instance it is reported that around 4,200,000 video cameras watch the every move of public life within the cities, shopping areas, and at important traffic junctions. This network of surveillance is credited by some with the rapid detection and arrest of the London Bus Bombers, and many other terrorist crimes. But this network was started as a deterrent against the IRA in the 1970/80's, without any public discussion, or input.