What is CCTV one may ask? CCTV cameras are used for common uses such as surveillance, but they include a unique feature. That unique feature is facial recognition. These cameras are starting to pop up in many cities. It is almost as if someone is always watching you.
Many cities have brought in CCTV cameras to assist in preventing crimes or catching criminals. Studies have shown that these cameras might not be as effective as we think they are. London had set up CCTV cameras all over the city. In 2008, only crime 1 was solved using the 1000 cameras that were set up. These cameras also came at a hefty price, about 800 million dollars over a four year period.
The idea is good, actually really good. Setting up cameras to capture videos of those committing the crimes and then using facial recognition software to identify the rule-breakers. Although, something is going wrong in the execution as the numbers of caught criminals with this software is not increasing. What do you think is causing this? Should there be more cameras? What about privacy concerns for the citizens?
Source: CNN
I agree, this is a really cool idea. The only problem is that if the person who commits the crime and is caught on this facial recognition cam, and doesn't already have a picture in the system, how will it be able to identify them? I am assuming it won't be able too. Cool thought, but for the amount of money that it cost....not very efficient.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really good too. Obviously to catch criminals because I can imagine there has been too many times where the PD caught a criminal on surveillance but was not clear or had to zoom in several times then the picture became blurry. This could help tremendously because the cameras right away could uncover the identity of criminals and able to make an arrest within minutes. I do agree with Garrett above that it probably does cost a pretty penny and it would be hard to find someone that is not already in the system, but most criminals are repeat offenders so it might be worth it to invest in the camera.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be more effective in certain cases. I wouldn't normally think the payout was worth 800 million of London's taxpayer money. But, were the cameras up and running for the past Olympics? I believe this would be a great setup for things like the Olympics and high crime cities.
ReplyDeleteHonestly with watching some of the videos that show up on Youtube from these cameras, its extremely diffilcult to identify someone after a certain distance. These videos are pixelated that other than basic features a person would be hard to distinguish from anyone else. More cameras would mean more wasted money. This seems to be more of a deterrent than an actual video camera. As far as privacy goes, these cameras are in public areas so its really a no contest arguement.
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