On Tuesday, 20th May 2008, a Mobile CCTV unit was parked in the middle of Kirkcaldy High Street. The day was hot, clear and sunny. The street busy with shoppers. The entire area that the mobile CCTV van could cover was already covered by other CCTV cameras.
Either this was a show of force, a thoughtless use of resources, or - as the operator, who bounced out of the van and accosted me for staring at it in an obtrusive manner, said - it is a necessary evil. An evil, indeed.
I was told that if I had a problem with CCTV, I should ring the number on the side of the van, the number of the Fife Community Safety Partnership: 01592-418888. Given that this is - by implication - the number to call for complaints about CCTV, I would encourage anyone with an interest in the area to call this number and register your objection.
Simply remember this: it should be the expectation of every liberal and democratic townsperson that the final say in matters of local policing belongs to democratic institutions. This is not an executive policy matter. It is a matter political in the proper sense of the word.
Showing posts with label local democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local democracy. Show all posts
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Opening Remarks
Welcome to the blog!
To object to CCTV in "today's inconnected world" is to hold an unfashionable minority viewpoint. This is the preserve of old-Labour socialists, recalcitrant liberals, hard-nosed Tories, human rights lawyers, privacy activists, data protection campaigners, hoodies, Victor Meldrew types, visitors from overseas or returning ex-pats, conspiracy theorists, gloommongers, hippy visionaries, peaceniks and constitutionalists. This is the awkward squad. But boy what a coalition this awkward squad represents!
Our cause - first and foremost - is a principled one. We value the privacy of the individual citizen and the dignity of our community at large - here, in Kirkcaldy. Without privacy, there can be no dignity. Privacy is a right, while dignity lies at the heart of our humanity.
CCTV is an infringement on your privacy. By this means, the state builds up an unduly detailed picture of our lives. In future, all of your errors, stumbles, bloody noses, bad hair days, confrontations, romantic moments - the private matter of public places - will become the property of the state to be duplicated and disseminated in a manner entirely outwith of your control.
Society functioned for better and worse without CCTV and public surveillance in general for millenia past. Increasingly, we are replacing natural, organic relations, with filtered, atomised, virtual existences. Our neighbourliness - as Fifers never exactly one of our more famed characteristics - will suffer as we substitute spontaneous, interpersonal lives for mediated dependencies controlled by a state bureaucracy whose function is to mechanise and saniticise vital, natural instincts.
Like the right to protest. Like the right to associate with real police officers as they walk the street in their professional capacity of guardians of the law. Like the right not to have CCTV operators learn all manner of details of your proclivities, habits, tastes, waking hours. Like the right not to have you stumble down a manhole or dress tear beamed around the world for popular entertainment.
Your privacy and - therefore - your dignity is at the heart of the matter. This is not a question about crime. Surveys have shown that the impact of CCTV on relevant crime in covered areas is four percent, and that is before the displacement issue is taken into account.
We must have the utmost of respect for the Police. I would love to see the day that the Police are respected - not feared - in Kirkcaldy, in a way that they haven't been since the first few post-war years. To do this they must be seen and known. The money saved by dismantling the CCTV network should be ringfenced for Policing. This is not an anti-Police campaign movement. The Police are at the heart of successful communities.
Fellow langtonians, now is the time to make your voices heard. Ask your elected representatives where they stand on this issue. Make your vote contingent on a respect of civil privacy and human dignity. It is time for CCTV to be banned in all public places in Kirkcaldy.
To object to CCTV in "today's inconnected world" is to hold an unfashionable minority viewpoint. This is the preserve of old-Labour socialists, recalcitrant liberals, hard-nosed Tories, human rights lawyers, privacy activists, data protection campaigners, hoodies, Victor Meldrew types, visitors from overseas or returning ex-pats, conspiracy theorists, gloommongers, hippy visionaries, peaceniks and constitutionalists. This is the awkward squad. But boy what a coalition this awkward squad represents!
Our cause - first and foremost - is a principled one. We value the privacy of the individual citizen and the dignity of our community at large - here, in Kirkcaldy. Without privacy, there can be no dignity. Privacy is a right, while dignity lies at the heart of our humanity.
CCTV is an infringement on your privacy. By this means, the state builds up an unduly detailed picture of our lives. In future, all of your errors, stumbles, bloody noses, bad hair days, confrontations, romantic moments - the private matter of public places - will become the property of the state to be duplicated and disseminated in a manner entirely outwith of your control.
Society functioned for better and worse without CCTV and public surveillance in general for millenia past. Increasingly, we are replacing natural, organic relations, with filtered, atomised, virtual existences. Our neighbourliness - as Fifers never exactly one of our more famed characteristics - will suffer as we substitute spontaneous, interpersonal lives for mediated dependencies controlled by a state bureaucracy whose function is to mechanise and saniticise vital, natural instincts.
Like the right to protest. Like the right to associate with real police officers as they walk the street in their professional capacity of guardians of the law. Like the right not to have CCTV operators learn all manner of details of your proclivities, habits, tastes, waking hours. Like the right not to have you stumble down a manhole or dress tear beamed around the world for popular entertainment.
Your privacy and - therefore - your dignity is at the heart of the matter. This is not a question about crime. Surveys have shown that the impact of CCTV on relevant crime in covered areas is four percent, and that is before the displacement issue is taken into account.
We must have the utmost of respect for the Police. I would love to see the day that the Police are respected - not feared - in Kirkcaldy, in a way that they haven't been since the first few post-war years. To do this they must be seen and known. The money saved by dismantling the CCTV network should be ringfenced for Policing. This is not an anti-Police campaign movement. The Police are at the heart of successful communities.
Fellow langtonians, now is the time to make your voices heard. Ask your elected representatives where they stand on this issue. Make your vote contingent on a respect of civil privacy and human dignity. It is time for CCTV to be banned in all public places in Kirkcaldy.
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