After this mornings' blog re; the vote on CCTV, I have had my letter. It begins;
'As part of the fight against delinquency and terrorism , Msr le Prefet de l'Aude offers municipalities the opportunity to acquire a video protection device by providing a large subsidy for a feasibility study of the video protection devises... '
So, you are pro-delinquency, pro-terrorism and a cheapskate if you deny this opportunity. Feasibility studys are of course expensive; not in the letter is the cost of the installation and the maintenance of CCTV - no doubt it will be tiny and the community will happily bear it. We are told that this is a complementary tool for the municipal police to dissuade acts of vandalism. Does complementary mean free?
It goes on to explain that the cameras will be fixed in the streets, the squares, the parks and the stations, whilst simultaneously respecting the privacy of the citizens. How can it do both? - Either they are watching or they ain't.
Our Mayor makes it clear what he expects our votes to be - ' de diminuer le sentiment d'insecurite ressenti par une parti de nos concitoyens.' As balanced pleas goes, this is outrageously slewed.
Those of us from the cities of Europe who know the reality of CCTV, the rise of hoodies and the knife crimes below the camera angle, the increased burglaries just out of range, the missing tapes when ever an authority is called to book, the lack of control over the watchers whoever they are, the inability of the authorities to use CCTV to charge for traffic crimes, the gross diminution of personal responsibility plus of course the increased need for extra policing (installation, maintenance, observation and occasional action) - WHA??? This is a town of nearly 2,000 souls, mostly retired people.
-Whom will this installation serve?
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