Policing and Orwell's vision

Two stories over the last couple of days have brought 'Orwellian' policing tactics in the UK into sharper focus. On Monday, Ian Readhead, Hampshire's deputy chief constable, warned that the inexorable spread of CCTV cameras into even rural areas risks turning Britain into an 'Orwellian' society. He focused on small towns like Stockbridge, where the town council recently spent €15000 on security camera systems, despite not having much of a problem with crime. Readhead also criticised the storing of DNA and fingerprint data indefinitely, asking whether it's right that someone who's picked up by the police for a minor offence at age fifteen, will still have his data on computer fifteen years later.

Sounds to me like he's onto something. Britain, with more than 4 million security cameras, has more CCTV per person than any other country in the world. Why is it being installed, anyway? Is it more to do with peace of mind for the paranoid than it is fighting crime?

The other story comes from Merseyside, where police have just launched their new drone spy helicopter, covered with cameras, designed to "monitor criminals and anti-social behaviour". According to Simon Byrne, Merseyside's assistant chief constable:

Our drone will be used primarily to support our antisocial behaviour taskforce, Axis, in gathering all-important evidence to put offenders before the court

You've got to love a police operation with the name 'Axis'. I wish they could have called it 'Hydra' or 'Thought Police' - but obviously those projects are yet to come.

I reckon that the key element here is cost. The police now operate on a target system which encourages them to make as many arrests as possible. This makes sense, until we consider that it is invariably cheaper to arrest someone for a minor offence than it is to investigate and arrest someone for a more serious offence. The aim of the drone is not so much increased security as cheaper policing… and it's New Labour we have to blame for this sort of development.

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May 22, 2007 | Filed Under Politics, UK 

Comments

3 Responses to “Policing and Orwell's vision”

  1. Matt on May 23rd, 2007 12:05 pm

    I don't see what's so bad about security cameras. If they aren't themselves a visible eyesore then what's the problem with having them monitering our streets? If it's privacy you want, stay indoors. People go out to be seen anyway, why not filmed?
    I think Middlesbrough's 'talking cameras' are an interesting step. Closer to Orwell's vision, and all a bit Robocop. Apparently John Reid is auditioning kids in schools across the country to be the new "voices behind the eyes" which is hilarious and a bit sinister at the same time. They're set to be installed in Plymouth soon and I for one would quite like to see a bunch of drunken, brawling squaddies being scalded by the disembodied voice of an 11 year-old.

  2. Nick on May 28th, 2007 10:58 am

    Very timely post considering this has just happened too:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,2089604,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11

    It's interesting how the Home Office went ahead and did this without even Scotland Yard or the Association of Police Officers asking for it. It's like the government is just like a madman out of control.

    Another wonderful legacy of New Labour as you say that we can all sit back and thank Tony for as he walks away.

  3. Tom on May 28th, 2007 12:31 pm

    Matt - there's nothing bad about security cameras, per se. If you've got nothing to hide, etc etc. I think there's a case to be made that it's an infringement of one's civil liberties to have every movement recorded. Then again, if there were more CCTV cameras in Portugal, perhaps the police there could have found Maddie already??

    Nick - thanks for the link. I love this quote:
    "We have chosen as a society to put the civil liberties of the suspect, even if a foreign national, first. I happen to believe this is misguided and wrong,"

    quite right. How dare those filthy foreigners expect to be treated as if they have civil liberties?! Next they'll be demanding human rights! It's political correctness gone mad!

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