Happy Knifings And CCTV
- Shameless EU
- Happy Knifings And CCTV
- Welcome to the New World
Following yet another lethal stabbing of a young man in the Greater London area, I heard this morning that this was the 18th death this year.
It’s bad enough when it’s one on one but there have been several headlines highlighting gang beatings literally kicking and stamping people to death and then gleefully boasting. Just one step beyond ‘happy slappings’, except when the outcome is lethal even they’re not stupid enough to create video evidence.
Why, why, why do they do it? Is human life so worthless? What is it about us as a race that allows such behaviour? Even if we as individuals happened across such an event, what could we do to stop it?
Yes, we know that these teenage killings are testosterone fuelled with some kind of quasi tribal motive. Territory and ‘respect’ are factors. In essence it’s no different to football related violence where young men (and not so young men) gang together for the sake of a coloured jersey and engage in violent activity. Maybe at a major event like the World Cup they will form alliances and take on the local constabulary. For some reason this doesn’t seem to happen in Rugby circles. But these knife killings and savage beatings are a step beyond.
What kind of society are we that breeds callous killers, a knife carrying gang culture and gratuitous violence? I do believe anonymity is at the heart of this and could be addressed by more extensive of use of CCTV.
It may be that the media plays a part by providing the inspiration in the form of violent movies and graphical console games, but at the end of the day you can’t say they are the root cause. I don’t believe anybody is born evil, we are all a mixture of nature and nurture and I am sure that the violence is a function of the nurture.
In the past, a criminal would be known in their community and would suffer from the ongoing ignominy even after a sentence was served. The community would be wary of them and they would have to earn respect over a long time. Today, in our crowded towns and cities, everybody is virtually anonymous. If criminals commit crime today they are not recognised by the rest of the community, in fact it is this lack of sense of community that is the underlying cause of our troubles.
I believe technology has a role to play, CCTV is a good preventative measure but currently the quality is too poor to secure solid convictions. We need more cameras and better cameras. What about the ‘Big Brother’ overtones? Frankly, I don’t give a damn, if it is used responsibly and it makes our lives safer, what’s the problem?
Written by Pete Wilder · Filed Under Crime
“I believe technology has a role to play, CCTV is a good preventative measure but currently the quality is too poor to secure solid convictions. We need more cameras and better cameras.”
I would venture to suggest that rather than more and better cameras, we actually need more people that know what they are doing with the existing technology.
CCTV will only prevent (or perhaps more accurately contribute to a reduction in) criminality if it is used effectively to tackle current problems, and therefore either deter (through detection), or help to remove from wider society, those responsible for unlawful activity.
Unless and until existing CCTV and IP Video systems are correctly profiled, deployed and operated in an appropriate and effective manner, then the potential for this technology to have a significant effect on reducing crime, will be sadly undermined.
Jon
http://forensicphotoshop.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-bad-news-for-cctv-fans.html
Everyone is crying for more cameras. Yet, no one is wondering how all of those images will be processed. Automatic systems are great for number plates. Yet, the technology is not quite there for masked or hooded criminals.
Like Jon says, we don’t necessarily need more cameras. We need capable installers working with reputable equipment - following a well thought out plan. Simply putting a camera on top of an 8m pole and hoping for the best isn’t cutting it.
I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, correctly deployed CCTV offers some measure of, if not protection from, at least detection of those committing crimes in public.
On the other hand, it does require a certain amount of faith in those in charge of the system.
As we have seen in places like Burma and Zimbabwe recently, an oppressive state can be a real danger to its people.
How do we protect ourselves against a future extremist government abusing the powers so many of us are happy to grant now?
Is that 18 knife deaths in London this year or 18 murders in total?
I think we’re about up to that already in sleepy ol’ Fresno, California (pop. half a million). And 112-degree temperatures such as we’re having at the moment aren’t going to help keep that number down
Ah, to walk the genteel streets of London once again…
It’s 18 kids knifed, Doc, obviously the murder total is much higher, such as the awful double killing of those two French students the other day.
If you think London is genteel, you ought to come to Ryde..!
I agree with Jon and Jim, it’s not just about the technology. Investment in people and process are also needed to make a workable solution. There was another point made last night on BBC1’s Question Time. What do we do with offenders? Our prison’s are bursting at the seams and I agree it’s not easy for society to tackle these issues.
‘How do we protect ourselves against a future extremist government abusing the powers so many of us are happy to grant now?’
I think Chris’ comment is a bit alarmist in the context of the UK and the rest of the democratic western world. We are a haven of democracy and I just can’t see a scenario where there is a future extremist government..
Yes, the whole issue would benefit from joined up thinking. There is obviously no point to increasing CCTV coverage if the system can’t cope.
Similarly, we don’t want to see an ever increasing percentage of our population locked up in jail.
As to government abuse of power, sure, it may seem unlikely today, but we have all seen cases of governments sliding into abuse. Spain and Germany are recent past examples and I’m not sure that these kinds of surveillance techniques would be a good thing in some of the Balkan states.
There definitely needs to be limits on governmental powers…
The killings are unacceptable, clearly, but they aren’t that prevalent. The murder rate in the UK as a whole is low and these are just the ones that are important this year to keep people talking about law and order, etc.
The gang violence is a concern but the prevalence of gangs isn’t a new phenomonen. Casualty managed to get a story covered so it must be known about!
Don’t get dragged into a terrified state. Read an LA newspaper and see how that feels and then realise that LA is actually pretty safe.
Hi Andy,
You’re right, the media attention does make these knife attacks seem more common than they are in practice and we shouldn’t get overly alarmed. Official over-reaction is likely to do more harm than good.