After 9/11 terrorist attacks, the video surveillance camera market has boomed in the United States. Starting from small business owners to large multinational enterprises, everyone seemed to be rushing to install advanced security systems in their place. According to Tomdispatch.com, post-9/11, federal spending on homeland security has gone up to over $790 billion.
Just like the UK, the U.S. cities have started investing millions of dollars on video surveillance and security system. A 2011 report by market research firm Electronics.ca Publications reveal, the video surveillance market is expected to grow from 11.5 billion USD in 2008 to 37.5 billion USD in 2015!
Although USA never embraced state-sponsored CCTV the way the UK did, nevertheless US has used surveillance as a national security and law-enforcement measure for years. Different State and federal security system paid increased importance to CCTV cameras particularly after the CCTV footage from a nearby shop helped the FBI identify the Tsarnaev brothers who took three lives and wounded over 200 in the Boston Marathon bombing event. The mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg expressed his strong support for using the “camera technology” to prevent future public attacks.
While after the 2005 London attacks, the authorities in London have installed more than 91,000 CCTV cameras in various vulnerable spots in the city, according to the pressure group Big Brother Watch, the authorities in Boston are believed to successfully install only a few hundred.
According to a new study by IMS Research projects, the expected worldwide market growth for electronic security equipment for city surveillance will reach more than $3.2 billion in 2017 from just $1.4 billion in 2012. The research further states that using the advanced camera technology, the police will be able to easily track a criminal and quickly respond to an event. Advanced CCTV cameras will help the police to clearly see the images of suspects involved in any incident that has caused damage to people and property.
CCTV cameras have the potential of creating both good and bad effects. While the government of different countries is spending millions of dollars to increase video surveillance on the streets, one thing is clear; cameras cannot prevent the suicide attackers from creating a massacre. Suicide bombers will rather be attracted to the television coverage cameras can ensure. CCTV cameras can also divert the interest of the thugs to lesser protected outskirt areas in various US cities.
While the prime reason for installing security cameras is to reduce crimes. Here also we see the cameras not been able to demonstrate that they can do it. In the UK for example, a large number of cameras are extensively deployed in various public places. However, the sociologists studying the issue found that this has not resulted in reduction of crime rate. A 2005 study for the British Home Office revealed that Closed-Circuit Television cameras failed to cut crime or even the fear of crime!
Cameras also promote a false sense of security and lead citizens to take fewer precautions increasing the chances of more crimes to be reported on a daily basis.
One of the main areas of concern associated with CCTV surveillance is that it may lead to misuse of such a security system. Let’s quickly go through the possible types of misuse.
Surveillance systems may allow a bad cop to identify people for blackmailing and criminal abuse.
Institutional abuse
During periods of social turmoil and conflict over government policies, an entire law enforcement agency can be turned toward abusive ends. For example, during the Vietnam War, the FBI along with many individual police departments worldwide carried illegal operations to spy upon and harass political activists who challenged the legitimacy of the Vietnam War.
Abuse for Personal Purposes
Police can collect valuable information and images of people to abuse them for their own personal purposes. Detroit Free Press once carried an investigation and found that a database available to Michigan law enforcement was used by some officers to help their friends stalk women, threaten motorists after traffic arguments, and track separated spouses.
Discriminatory Targeting
Video camera systems are often used to target people of different color and ethnicity. A sociological study found that black people are brought under surveillance more than the white population.
Voyeurism
Many experts study have revealed the fact that most officers in the name of surveillance spy on women for voyeuristic reasons.
A 2010 document titled “Charter for a Democratic Use of Video-Surveillance” of the European Forum for Urban Security provides an overview of crucial issues concerning public security and a set of principles to make sure every citizen’s rights are respected with CCTV security cameras system.
Necessity: Authorities have to clearly justify the use of camera systems in any public place. Objectives and intended outcomes must be properly defined.
Proportionality: CCTV equipment should be installed only to address the intended issue. All data should be well protected and the length of time should be clearly defined.
Transparency: Citizens must be informed about the real reason for installing a CCTV system, how much the cameras cost and the installation charges, about the areas to be surveyed, and what the results are.
Accountability: Those in charge of public CCTV systems should remain totally accountable to the public, whether the systems are run by the government or by any private firm.
Independent Oversight: An external body should be in charge to see that the security systems respect all public’s rights and are achieving the desired outcome without infringement of public rights and interests. Citizens should be regularly informed about the oversight process.
While the increasing prevalence of security cameras coupled with advanced facial recognition software, have raised many privacy questions, a majority of Americans believe the invasion of privacy is worthwhile because it has made them feel safer on the streets.
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