CCTVs not cost effective in solving crimes but will make Sin Tech richer!

And guess who gets a higher bonus on top of commanding an obscene salary?Home > Breaking News > World > Story
Aug 25, 2009
1thousand CCTVs to solve 1 crime




The report found that the public 'have a high expectation of CCTV and are frequently told they are captured on camera 300 times per day'. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW

LONDON - FEWER than one crime is solved by every 1,000 closed circuit television cameras, the Metropolitan Police, Britain's biggest police force, has admitted.

The London Telegraph on Tuesday reported that each case helped by the use of CCTV effectively costs £20,000 to detect, according to Met figures.

Critics of Britain's so-called 'surveillance society' said it raised serious concerns over how police forces used CCTV cameras to fight crime. �

Britain is one of the most monitored countries in the world, with an estimated four million cameras nationwide, said The Telegraph.

An internal report released by the Metropolitan Police under Freedom of Information laws disclosed that more than one million of these are in London alone. But it cast doubt on the use of the cameras as a crime fighting tool.

It said: 'For every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime is solved per year.'

The report found that the public 'have a high expectation of CCTV and are frequently told they are captured on camera 300 times per day'.

Public confidence was dented when the police often stated there was no CCTV working when a crime has been committed, it said.

It also said that increasingly members of the public were complaining that officers had not bothered to view available CCTV images when trying to track down criminals.

It disclosed a 'significant rise in the level of complaints from the public, where it is perceived that police have not viewed CCTV. This is now approaching 100 per year.'

A report by a House of Lords committee also said that £500million was spent on new cameras in the 10 years to 2006, money which could have been spent on street lighting or neighbourhood crime prevention initiatives, said The Telegraph.

A large proportion of the cash has been In London, where an estimated £200 million so far has been spent on the cameras. This suggests that each crime has cost £20,000 to detect.

Britain has 1 per cent of the world's population but around 20 per cent of its CCTV cameras - which works out as the equivalent of one for every 14 people, according to The Telegraph.

That's London, what has it got to do with us?

In which case do we actually have cameras on the streets, as far as I know I've heard that we have a few on the streets of Geylang but thats about it. What about the rest of SG, anyone has any ideas?

Since when had the our security agencies been original in implementing ideas and policies? Monkey see London, Monkey do especially if it means gaining experiences in the use of technology that can be reversed or re-engineered to showcase Singapore technological prowess.


S'pore to install more surveillance cameras
as anti-terror measures

Agence France Presse
November 7, 2004
SINGAPORE


SINGAPORE, which sees itself as a target for terrorists, will install more closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in crowded areas to forestall any attacks, the Sunday Times reported.
There is no specific threat but Singapore, which the government has repeatedly warned is on the terrorists' hit list, cannot afford to take any chances, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng was quoted as saying.

"We know we're a target," Wong told local media on Saturday. "When will it happen, should it happen, we don't know.

"But we cannot take chances. We cannot afford to be complacent and wait for it to happen before we start to look at all the measures," he said.

Last year, the government installed 30 surveillance cameras at a cost of S$2 (US$1.2 million) in three spots popular with residents and tourists.

Wong said the CCTV cameras were the "eyes and ears on the ground" and demonstrated Singapore's resolve to protect itself from terrorists.

"We're making Singapore a difficult target, a hard target, so that people are aware that we're always watchful, always vigilant," Wong said.

The plans to install more cameras in public areas are part of measures that Singapore has taken most recently to beef up security.

On Friday, the government said security guards would patrol every school and up to 12 CCTV cameras would be installed on the premises within the next few months to prevent a tragedy similar to the Beslan hostage crisis in Russia.

Last week, Singapore police began deploying more armed officers to patrol commercial, entertainment and residential areas.

The government has repeatedly warned that Singapore was a target of attacks because of its support to the US-led war against terror and it has rounded up alleged members of Jemaah Islamiyah, said to be the Southeast Asian affiliate of the Al-Qaeda network.

Security has been stepped up at foreign embassies, government buildings, international schools and transport and industrial facilities since the September 11, 2001 attacks.