Top: UK surveillance cameras / Below: A CCTV camera beside an
automatic numberplate recognition camera in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.
British deputy PM, Nick Clegg, has expressed concerns about Britain's 'surveillance society' and has promised to stop unnecessary infringements on privacy. If you happen to be a resident of a Muslim area of Birmingham, you might believe that the trend is rather toward more surveillance on a massive scale.
Guardian:
Councillors weren't exactly given the straight goods about the purpose of the cameras and the source of the funding. The project was promoted as part of an effort to combat anti-social behavior, vehicle crime and drug dealing. They were told that the funding had come from the Home Office. The £3m pound grant in fact came from the Terrorism and Allied Matters Fund which is administered by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
The Guardian quotes a councillor for Sparkbrook, Respect Party member Salma Yaqoob: "I raised my concern then: is this really about spying? The terrorism aspect was certainly not emphasized in that meeting. In fact it was me having to be portrayed as the awkward squad, or even paranoid, for even raising the issue of whether this was really about counterterrorism. They were very much saying, 'No, this is about burglary and crime.'"
According to police sources the initiative, code-named Project Champion, seeks to monitor a population seen as "at risk" of terrorism. When the operation is fully underway residents won't be able to come and go from their neighborhoods without having their every movement tracked.
Intensive surveillance at this level will almost certainly be perceived by many law-abiding residents as a gross intrusion and an infringement of civil liberties. It signals to the community under-watch that the residents are potential suspects, never entirely to be trusted. No amount of surveillance will deter the small minority who are radicalized and angry, but it may have the effect of alienating residents who pose no threat to anyone.
Story in Guardian - also here.
Guardian:
About 150 automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras have been installed in Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook in recent months. Birmingham's two predominantly Muslim suburbs will be covered by three times more ANPR cameras than are used to monitor the entire city centre. They include about 40 cameras classed as "covert", meaning they have been concealed from public view.
Councillors weren't exactly given the straight goods about the purpose of the cameras and the source of the funding. The project was promoted as part of an effort to combat anti-social behavior, vehicle crime and drug dealing. They were told that the funding had come from the Home Office. The £3m pound grant in fact came from the Terrorism and Allied Matters Fund which is administered by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
The Guardian quotes a councillor for Sparkbrook, Respect Party member Salma Yaqoob: "I raised my concern then: is this really about spying? The terrorism aspect was certainly not emphasized in that meeting. In fact it was me having to be portrayed as the awkward squad, or even paranoid, for even raising the issue of whether this was really about counterterrorism. They were very much saying, 'No, this is about burglary and crime.'"
According to police sources the initiative, code-named Project Champion, seeks to monitor a population seen as "at risk" of terrorism. When the operation is fully underway residents won't be able to come and go from their neighborhoods without having their every movement tracked.
Intensive surveillance at this level will almost certainly be perceived by many law-abiding residents as a gross intrusion and an infringement of civil liberties. It signals to the community under-watch that the residents are potential suspects, never entirely to be trusted. No amount of surveillance will deter the small minority who are radicalized and angry, but it may have the effect of alienating residents who pose no threat to anyone.
Story in Guardian - also here.
