Graeme Gerrard, the Association of Police Officers' head of CCTV, was right to note how much public support there is for security cameras. Opinion polls certainly back him up on this, suggesting overwhelming public support, and signalling the dangers of political parties trying to win votes by expressing fashionable concerns about a 'surveillance society'.
But surely his claim that CCTV does little to deter late-night alcohol-fuelled crime and violence is more a reflection on the criminal justice system and its reluctance to see anyone actually serving time for these offences than on the effectiveness of the cameras themselves? Who knows what deterrent and preventative effect being filmed in the act would have if prison sentences were not seen as a last resort by so many courts and by the Home Office alike? It's never been tested. And if this would make no difference, and it is true that there are many people in Britain who are both violent and give no thought to the consequences of their behaviour, then the case for their incarceration is even stronger. Why are such dangers to the public roaming the streets?
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