Covert surveillance doesn’t mean Big Brother

A chance conversation about the use of state-of-the-art surveillance equipment for catching deer poachers on Cannock Chase has made me think about whether it’s an option for anti social behaviour hot spots.

I’ve just visited a bridge over the canal near Fazeley which is completely covered with graffiti, some of it pretty disgusting, and regularly littered with empty beer cans and sometimes signs of drug taking. It’s a few hundred yards from any houses but does form part of a well used local walk. And the fact that it is slightly remote means it is difficult to police resulting in the issues mentioned.

My first thought was that because it’s a fair distance away from ‘people’ it is less of an issue than other parts of the area where it has been a problem by people’s homes. Actually it’s wrong and completely unnecessary anywhere at all. I’m told a lot of locals use the walk and that sometimes the youths hanging around the bridge in the early evening can be somwhat intimidating.

So, bearing in mind a major problem is identifying those responsible for this sort of criminal damage and local upset I am going to persue the use of tiny pin head cameras which can record clearly day or night. Some will say it is overkill for petty crime meaning a Big Brother state is around the corner. Well, just for the record, I’m not a supporter of endless fixed cctv. I think it just pushes the problem around. Main locations, like busy urban centres fine, but not the ever creeping surveillance.

No, what I want to see is targeted use of surveillance equipment… where there is a continuing significant problem and when identifying those responsible is difficult. And for those that say anti social behaviour or defacing public places is petty, they clearly haven’t talked to normal people who go about their everyday lives minding their own business but are plagued by this sort of thing.

To me it’s all about the ever creeping rise of tollerence levels. What was not generally acceptable behaviour only ten years ago is today considered petty and not worth bothering about. I firmly believe that what you can see in the pictures is wrong and pointless and if those who are doing it on a regular basis can be identified using modern technology then I’m all for it. A spot of zero tollerance may just have an effect in the long term!

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