1. Amy Moss
CCTV Research & Planning
CCTV stands for ‘Closed Circuit Television’, the use of CCTV consists mainly of video cameras set
up to transmit a signal to a set of monitors. There are many types of CCTV cameras as they all serve
different functions:
This is known as an ‘Eye in the Sky’ CCTV camera, its main usage is in
airports and car parks. The cameras are placed at the top of a high steel
pole to get a bird’s eye view of its surroundings; this type of camera can
prevent car theft and muggings. Unfortunately due to how high it is, it
can often prevent the camera from seeing the perpetrators face, unless
they look directly at it.
Although this type of CCTV can be ineffective, it has proven that when
a security camera of this kind is placed in a car park it has resulted in a
51% decrease of crime.
The shape of this camera at
the top of the high steel
pole is a dome, these can
be found around shopping
centres, street corners,
buses and shops (often in the ceiling). The use of a
‘Dome’ CCTV camera is to get a full shot of the room
or space it is present in, which can often lead to the
prevention of crime, as when these were found or
present on public transportation, crime saw a decrease of
23%.
Often distributed around construction sites are regular
surveillance cameras, these are used by businesses to track they’re workers and in most cases to look
out for thieves stealing material. They are normally clumped together in what surveillance companies
refer to as ‘nests’, when they consist of more than 2 cameras together. This allows the monitor to get
the view from different angles.
Many people have taken into incorporating
CCTV into their homes by setting up their own CCTV cameras at the front of their home. This pack

2. Amy Moss
will normally consist of a 4 little cameras and a monitoring system that
allows you to connect to most televisions and computers to record your
footage. However these packages are not cheap and often tally up to £687
due to their efficiency.
Although many people like the idea of protecting their home, others see it
as an invasion of privacy, stating that CCTV displaces crime rather than
reducing it, and it’s often snubbed as ‘Big Brother Surveillance’. As if an
invasion of privacy isn’t a good enough counter argument, CCTV
operators took a big hit in 2007 when ‘Watchdog: Camera Watch’
claimed that the majority of CCTV cameras in the UK are operated
illegally or are in breach of privacy guidelines.
Furthermore, this illegal use of
CCTV can be committed through a system called IP which
stands for ‘Internet Protocol’ which allows members of the
public to view many CCTV cameras through an internet
connection available through a tablet, computer or a 3G
phone. This is often used in the case of criminals where
CCTV cameras have been installed next to ATM machines
where the pins of many members of the public have been
noted and used. This happened in Canterbury when a man
was withdrawing money whilst being watched by an
overhead security camera, later that day he was pickpocketed
and a sufficient amount of money was withdrawn from his
account, after the people operating the security camera were
random members of the public viewing it from a 3G
connection.
Nevertheless, not all security cameras are used improperly;
the vast majority of cameras are regulated by legitimate
companies and have been used in desperate cases. For example, the kidnapping of James Bulger in
1992 was a great breakthrough for CCTV cameras and proved
that being watched isn’t always a bad thing. The two boys who
were caught on camera leading James Bulger away had their
freedom snatched away from them when their faces were
caught on CCTV used in the shopping centre.
Positive views of CCTV cameras have argued that the cameras
are not intruding people’s privacy as they are not watching
private, but public space where an individual’s right to privacy
can reasonably be weighed against the intended benefits of
society. However, the counter argument towards this is that if
we are trying to benefit society then why are there no security
cameras in private areas and only public where not many crimes
are committed. For example, in such places as alleys, tube stations, darkly lit streets where crimes are
likelier to happen rather than on a busy high street.
These are not the only places in which CCTV cameras are used, there are other uses for them in day to
day life:
• Traffic monitoring

3. Amy Moss
• Transport Safety
• Control of Retail; selection of goods, moving goods, scanning goods and control in
the kitchens of fast food restaurants
There have been many opposing parties towards CCTV such as the ‘NO CCTV – campaigning
against camera surveillance in the UK and beyond’ group of people who fight to protect privacy.
The
anti-cctv campaigns run through
Aylesbury, Birmingham, Northern Ireland, Oxford, Royston,
Bristol and Nottingham and they are fighting to prove that CCTV is a
threat to privacy and base their arguments on the issue that the public have been ill informed about
CCTV and they are not here to protect us. Although on many occasions their campaigns have proven
effective and have caused a stir in regards to removing CCTV cameras across the globe, there are not
enough people willing to fight with them for the removal.
Although many people are fighting against CCTV it’s hard to tell whether they are fighting a losing
battle, due to the amount of research that has been discussed earlier I think it would be best to say that
CCTV will be embedded within society for a long time until strong legal action is taken against it.