Vocal Voices

Proponents of these damned things, and yes, I am against their increasing intrusion on everyone's lives, say that they prevent crime. No, they do not! They record some crimes, and might make it easier for the police to catch the criminal(s), but not always. They can also be used for nefarious purposes.

A variation of the crime prevention theme is also used when CCTV is installed in workplaces. They are there for staff safety, so the staff are told, but there have always been suspicions that they would be/are used otherwise. Now the NASUWT has exploded the myth. It has evidence, in the form of e-mails, that CCTV is being used to monitor teachers in the classroom.

The teachers claim that they are the only ones being monitored in this way, but on that point they are wrong - we are all being watched, all of the time. Walk into any office, shop or bank and you can spot those little glass bubbles in the ceilings and walls. They cannot always be observing the baddies all of the time, most of the time they are watching us and the staff.

They are a form of control rather than an aid to crime prevention.

Yes, another manifestation is the CCTV system on buses. There for the protection of passengers and of staff. But there are at least 6 camera "bubbles" in play, including two mounted on the outside .....

We are now also being encouraged to fit dashboard cams on our car. How long before it's either a standard accessory or an insurance requirement?

But the other thing is the number-plate recognition cameras. These have very discretely been installed on all major roads leading in and out of this city over the last few months, razor-spike protected so you can't interfere with them .... Big Brother is truly watching your every movement.

All true.
CCTV on the outside of buses? What would you need that for?

Imo it's down to the mind set of the State. Our politicians (and this extends to councils) don't see themselves as our representatives, they see themselves as our rulers and as such can do whatever they want.

We have become a police state. Neighbours and even children we are told have been asked to spy on people.
We Should never complain about Communist States but just take a look at our own

cromwell wrote:All true.
CCTV on the outside of buses? What would you need that for?
.

The nearside one is positioned half way down the vehicle, and set to cover the doors. The offside one is set at the rear of the vehicle, panning forward.

In the case of the former, I can see it makes sense on two counts (1) if there's a fracas at the entrance of the bus, it captures the outside action (2) people falling / tripping trying to alight, so on, especially if the vehicle hasn't been lowered into "knelt" mode for prams / pushchairs, or disabled folk.

The latter one, I can only assume it's to monitor the driver's driving standard, and / or vehicles overtaking. If the former, as WM said in his OP, it's another example of employers watching their employees at work ....

Edit to say, after a bit of research, I found this .... I can see it makes sense, in a way:
http://www.busandcoach.com/featurepage. ... tegoryid=3

Certainly employed on all new buses here in the last 2-3 years. I presume you could fit them to your car, Crommers - a snip at £2,500!

TheOstrich wrote:Certainly employed on all new buses here in the last 2-3 years. I presume you could fit them to your car, Crommers - a snip at £2,500!

I'd want a new car for that! :tight:

TheOstrich wrote:http://www.busandcoach.com/featurepage.aspx?id=6769&categoryid=3

"You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between"

© Johnny Mercer

Apart from a few points the article is doing management's job, IMHO.