海角大神

London is considered the most spied-on city in the world, courtesy of its ubiquitous CCTV cameras, purportedly there to reduce crime. But according to a recent report, there's been little or no change in London's crime rates since they were more widely installed in the mid 1980s.

Privacy activists are worried that Britain will become the bleak totalitarian society George Orwell painted in his classic novel 鈥�1984,鈥� where citizens were spied on and personal freedom sacrificed for the benefit of an all-powerful state.

鈥淲e are sleepwalking into a surveillance society where we鈥檙e watched from control rooms by anonymous people, says Emma Carr of the BBW. 鈥淭he worrying thing is that we don鈥檛 actually know how many CCTV cameras there are out there."

In the report released this week, civil rights pressure group Big Brother Watch revealed that local councils spent 拢515 million (about $807 million) on new cameras over the past four years, the equivalent of 4,121 police officers. Birmingham, England鈥檚 second most populous city, has spent the most: 拢14.3 million ($22 million) over past four years, followed by Westminster at 拢11.8 million ($18.5 million), and Leeds at 拢8.7 million ($13.6 million).

BBW estimates there are now some 51,000 police-run cameras watching British citizens in urban areas, not including private cameras or cameras situated in other public buildings like train stations or bus depots.

A common figure cited is a total 4.2 million cameras across the Britain based on a working paper published in 2002, by academics Michael McCahill and Clive Norris but research last year by Cheshire Police puts the figure closer to 1.85 million.

But Ms. Carr says that without official registrations and research it is impossible to calculate.

The civil rights group Liberty estimates that the average Londoner is captured on camera around 300 times a day while BBW claims Britain has 20 percent of the world鈥檚 CCTV cameras and only 1 percent of the world鈥檚 population.

There is a perception that the cameras reduce the crime rate, but there is no evidence for that, say activists. 鈥淭he Met police have said that in 2008, only one crime was solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras,鈥� says Carr.

Charlie Masson Smith, a spokesman for Wandsworth Council, which covers the south London suburb of Balham, disagrees.

鈥淭hey do help the police solve crime 鈥� in 2010, 841 cases in Wandsworth were brought to court using CCTV camera footage. But it鈥檚 not just crime, they can be used for traffic congestion or other ways like the time they helped rescue someone from the Thames when they had fallen in the river. We think it is money well spent.鈥�

He says cameras are only located in mostly urban areas and where residents or businessmen have requested them. His local authority has 1,158 CCTV cameras and spent 拢4.7 million ($ 7.4 million) over the past four years making it No. 8 on the list of big spenders.

鈥淢ost cameras are in shopping areas or near to Tube stations, we don鈥檛 put them in Acacia Avenue,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e try and strike a balance with civil liberties but a lot of the time we are reacting to what people are wanting.

There are nearly 70 cameras on display on lampposts, sides of buildings and in the underground and mainline and train stations in a half-mile stretch of main road in Balham.

To be sure, at least some residents here don鈥檛 seem to notice or mind.

鈥淚鈥檝e never really thought about them,鈥� says Jane Taylor who commutes this route to work. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not particularly obtrusive and I think it鈥檚 a good thing especially at night to think someone is keeping an eye on things.鈥�

Nadine Shah, a bank worker, agrees. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e not doing anything wrong, you鈥檝e got nothing to worry about have you? If they deter crime and help the police I don鈥檛 see that being a problem. People say it鈥檚 like 鈥�1984鈥� but it鈥檚 a long way from that.鈥�

Still, business analyst Jonathan Powers says he stands among those concerned. 鈥淲ho鈥檚 watching us and why? They say it helps cut crime but I haven鈥檛 noticed any big drops in crime since I鈥檝e been living in London. They may help bring people to court but they don鈥檛 prevent crime otherwise we wouldn鈥檛 have had the riots last year or the Tube bombings.鈥�

BBW activists are calling on the government to implement stronger guidelines in a new code of conduct being drawn up for CCTV users. They are also asking for users to have to justify where cameras are located.

鈥淲e are not against using CCTV for high risk areas at risk of terrorism like airports,鈥� says Carr 鈥渂ut there is no substitute for police officers on the ground.鈥�

Mark Levine, professor of social psychology at Exeter University who has carried out research into the link between CCTV and crime says Britain overall seems 鈥渜uite relaxed with it compared to Americans who are suspicious of big government and interference in their lives. Similarly I have colleagues from East Germany who came to London and were shocked by the number of cameras.鈥�