A College Coup

Yesterday I received a fantastic e-mail from someone in charge about not hogging seats in exam term in the Library. Something about its language tells you this could only come from a Cambridge College:

3.    students who find a desk unused for more than 15 minutes are at liberty to stage a coup; but please leave the displaced books nearby;

All punctuated with exciting punctuation as well!

Are CCTV Cameras To Be Encouraged In A Liberal Democracy?

We hear, largely from very Liberal parties, that Britain is becoming a police state due to the volume of CCTV cameras around. No-one is safe, they say, because the state can see where everyone is at any one time. State spying has no limits. But it is also interesting to ponder on the ways that CCTV has of strengthening a liberal democracy like our own. The principle of accountability is the way in which it does this.

CCTV helps to prevent abuses by organs of the state. In the G20 protests that recently happened in London, good hard evidence of police brutality is hard to come by. But the CCTV cameras caught a lot of the abuses, and will undoubtedly play a major part in any civil or criminal trial (although I think there was probably no criminal liability). So CCTV can increase scrutiny of the actions of the police as well as those of ordinary citizens.

CCTV can act as a deterrent for crime. If people know that they are likely to be caught on CCTV, then surely they will think twice about committing a crime in front of the camera? Also, CCTV is of use in both finding and prosecuting offenders, ensuring an effective criminal justice system.

Surely the sentiment that the innocent have nothing to hide is applicable here. If one does not get into trouble routinely, then why should one be worried if one is filmed walking along the High Street? The universality of CCTV, rather than being criticised because it treats upstanding and criminal citizens alike, should be celebrated precisely because no-one is above the law of CCTV. The difference is that some people do things they would not like to have on record, or on camera.

So rather than signalling the death-knell of democracy, an independent CCTV network can, I believe, strengthen our liberal democracy by providing greater accountability for all persons, be they police, criminals or the general public.