CCTV Security Cameras: Big Brother Gives A Helping Hand
The average Briton is filmed by over 300 CCTV security cameras per day. Over four million CCTV cameras cover Great Britain in schools, bus stations, train stations, parks, offices, and airports. Would we benefit from a CCTV system like that in the United States?
“I think so,” says Sarasota, Florida resident Tommy Shaughnessy. “CCTV is a powerful tool against crime. But Americans are too paranoid about Big Brother to ever be truly comfortable with the idea of CCTV.”
How has CCTV Worked Out in the UK?
On July 7, 2005, four al-Qaeda operatives carried out suicide bombings on the London tube and bus line that killed 52 people. The CCTV system in London captured footage of the four men. The CCTV footage gave police detailed forensic evidence of the crime. One picture shows a bombing suspect running through an Underground station after his explosives failed to detonate. Another captured a second suspect standing on the upper floor of a double-decker bus.
In a matter of hours, the CCTV images of the bombers were plastered over UK TV stations. The CCTV evidence helped lead to the identification of the four men, which led to arrests and the discovery of a bomb factory and terrorist cell in Leeds.
CCTV in the US
Though it is not as popular in the US as it is in the UK, CCTV has been proven to be an effective tool in crime fighting, detection, and prosecution here as well. On February 1, 2004, CCTV security cameras captured footage of 11-year-old Florida girl Carlie Brucia being kidnapped by a stranger in a carwash parking lot while she was on her way home from a friend’s house. The stranger was identified at 37-year-old Joseph P. Smith. The tape shows him approaching Brucia, engaging her in a short conversation, then grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away. He later raped and murdered Carlie.
When the CCTV footage of the abduction was shown on the news, two of Smith’s friends recognized him and called the police. Smith was already in custody at the time, arrested on a parole violation, but the identification led to his subsequent trial and conviction for murder, first-degree kidnapping, and sexual battery. He eventually told his brother where he had hidden her body. Smith was sentenced to the death penalty on March 15, 2006, what would have been Carlie’s 14th birthday.
Without CCTV, Carlie’s killer may have never been identified, and perhaps her body might never have been found. The Carlie Brucia murder is a strong case for more CCTV across the United States. Though we Americans may be apprehensive about CCTV’s perceived intrusions, we have seen evidence both in the UK and here in our own country that CCTV can prove to be extremely beneficial. The debate may go on, but the evidence mounts in support of some form of CCTV security in the United States.
This is the back of Evie’s Car Wash, where Carlie was kidnapped. The small black dot on the upper right corner of the building (closest to the photographer) is the CCTV camera that recorded her abduction.
Rich’s Note: I know there is a fine line between feeling more safe and secure, and feeling spied upon, but I am in favor of more cameras. As long as they can’t see into my house, then I don’t mind them.
Source: cctv-ir.blogspot.com, August 16, 2008. Car wash photo by Ted Mase/Getty Images.
