Bristol 'has more CCTV cameras than Manchester and Liverpool combined'
BRISTOL has more CCTV cameras than Manchester and Liverpool combined, it has been revealed.
And while the city has 786 council-controlled cameras, Birmingham has 636 – despite Bristol's population being half the size of England's second city.
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Bristol graffiti artist Bansky puts the spotlight on CCTV in this artwork in a London street
Manchester and Liverpool have combined total of 607 cameras.
In Bristol, that means there is one CCTV camera for every 560 people – and this doesn't even include privately-owned cameras outside shops or businesses.
A Freedom of Information request from privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has revealed that the city council has spent more than £4 million on cameras in the past four years.
This makes Bristol City Council one of 18 authorities in the UK who have spent more than £1 million per year on cameras.
The campaign group says £515 million has been spent in total in the last four years across the UK on CCTV cameras – which they say could put an extra 4,121 police constables on the streets, the equivalent of an entire police force.
In North Somerset, more than £1.5 million has been spent, and there are 73 CCTV cameras run by the local authority; in South Gloucestershire £900,000 has been spent and there are 50 cameras; and in Bath and North East Somerset there are 94 cameras and the authority has spent nearly £1.5 million on them in the last few years.
The statistics cover the period from April 2007 to March 2011.
Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "Britain has an out-of-control surveillance culture that is doing little to improve public safety but has made our cities the most watched in the world.
"Surveillance is an important tool in modern policing but it is not a substitute for policing. In too many cities across the country every corner has a camera but only a few ever see a police officer. Despite millions of cameras, Britain's crime rate is not significantly lower than comparable countries that do not have such a vast surveillance state.
"There is no credible evidence that more cameras will reduce crime, yet councils have poured enough money into CCTV in just four years that would have put more than four thousand extra police officers on the streets."
A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: "The cost of the CCTV network to the Bristol taxpayer is zero since it is entirely funded by income that is generated by the service.
"With regards to the number of police officers in the city, Avon and Somerset Police have had a shortage in the number, compared to what is needed, for a long time, because of a funding anomaly, something that we have highlighted to the Government on many occasions.
"However, the evidence of the civil disturbances, when the police were able to rely on much better use of CCTV, and the way we have dealt with car crime, cut by half, shows that a sensible use of CCTV and partnership working with the police, can be very effective in tackling crime."
8 Comments
by Mikey_Blake
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 12:19PM
“I'm not a fan of being spied on everywhere I walk around Bristol, but when I see the amazing results the Police get in tracking down vicious thugs, child-molesters, murderers, con-men and the like, I am more than happy to get videod occasionally picking my nose and to risk it being posted on YouTube.”
by MessyPatch
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 12:15PM
“Are these cctv cameras actually switched on and working? I'm guessing out of the 786 only a small percentage are either switched on, working or pointing in the direction they should be. I'm aware of several people who have needed to approach council or local companies for CCTV footage, only to be told the camera doesn't work or doesn't point at the area its facing.”
by nickthompson
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 11:03AM
“These cameras are being used by BCC to spy on anyone doing any building work,or other improvements that might be considered contary to their policy of keeping OUR city locked permanently into the 20th century.”
by frank1958
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:36AM
“Thank god we have these cameras they do provide useful evidence, as crimestoppers proves.”
by PJB_1972
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:23AM
“I think most people would prefer to see more police on the streets rather than a camera. Those involved in street crime know they only have to cover their face and the cameras aren't going to be much help. If so many cameras had an impact on crime then more people would be willing to accept them as a necessity but when they have little impact then whats the point?
Of course they are useful to watch for trouble with the weekend drinkers in town but other than that, do we really need to be watched all the time?”
by corncups
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:03AM
“@diktator
Ah, the old 'innocent people have nothing to hide' defence of diminishing liberties.
The problem with this is that your line seems reasonable enough without much thought, but think what happens when the state becomes increasingly authoritarian and decides that your are guilty of the wrong sort of political opinion, or that your are guilty of opposing it, or as was the case in 1930's Europe that your are guilty of being Jewish, or gay, or black? When the Nazi's invaded Belgium they went straight for the national ID database so that they could find the home addresses of people they decided were 'undesirable' before incarcerating them in concentration camps.
Those who willingly give up their liberties in exchange for a promise of extra security, deserve and will get neither.”
by TalbotHill
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 8:55AM
“The problem with any data collected by businesses or authorities is that somewhere along the line someone gets the opportunity to buy it for 'other uses'. It's not long ago that we heard reports of banks selling customer data. OK, CCTV collects pictures, but it's still data and a saleable commodity.
Google Maps supposedly 'fuzzes out' people's faces, but I know of someone who is clearly visible washing his car in a Cul-de-Sac where he lives.
George Orwell was right in principle with 1984, he just got the year wrong.
'Big Brother is Watching You', but who is watching Big Brother?”
by dicktator
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 7:45AM
“I have no problem with CCTV as an ordinary law abiding citizen. I have nothing to hide. If it costs Council Tax payers nothing and keeps our city safer what's the problem?”