CCTV’s (Closed Circuit Television) are video cameras which are used for surveillance and crime prevention. These cameras act as an extension of the human eye in the way that whatever activity they see is also seen by the individuals who are behind the camera, such as security workers. In today’s society, Closed Circuit Televisions are for the most part on every street corner and are located in public areas such as businesses, malls, hospitals and schools. The implementation of CCTV’s took off in the 1980s as it was seen as a cheaper way to deter crime compared to increasing the size of the police departments (Yesil, 2006).
The use of CCTV’s is an example of exercising power through technology. Having these cameras visible to us makes us aware of an authoritative figure and not knowing whether someone is behind the camera at any given moment in turn keeps us disciplined as to not act out in any unconventional manner. The idea of video surveillance is a technological solution designed to solve the problems of surveillance in urban space. People under surveillance are, as in the Panopticon, to be seen but to never know when or by whom; under control but without physical intervention (Koskela, 2003). This type of surveillance in urban spaces can be seen as a “Superpanopticon”, in the way that as soon as we step outside our homes, we are almost immediately under surveillance and continue to be under until we reach home again. The reason for this being the amount of CCTV’s in urban spaces today, for instance in Britain, the density of CCTV’s is among the highest with an estimated 4.2 million CCTV’s , which is one per every fourteen people (Kelly, 2009).
The use of CCTV’s and the fact that we are almost always under constant surveillance makes every city with this technology a “laboratory of power” (Foucault, 1975, p.204). This is evident in way that individuals are normalized and disciplined through the awareness of this body of power through surveillance. Some argue that the use of CCTV’s is an invasion of their privacy while others think the technology drives responsibility away from witnesses of a crime. If the pervasiveness of CCTV’s is so great, then why stick around to keep an eye on someone you know is committing a crime? The general thought for some people is that the camera will catch it and the person and justice will be served. Regardless of the “superpanopticon” we live in, I believe we all have a duty as citizens to report any crime we see and to not rely on technology to do it for us.
References
Foucault , M. (1975). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison
Koskela, H. (2003). ‘Cam Era’ – The Contemporary Urban Panopticon.
Yesil, Bilge. (2006) “Watching Ourselves” Cultural Studies. Vol 20(4-5) pg. 400-416
Yesil, Bilge. (2006) “Watching Ourselves” Cultural Studies. Vol 20(4-5) pg. 400-416
An interesting addition to this concept is the use of dummy CCTV cameras. Some stores will go even cheaper and either place fake plastic cameras that cannot film and is just mounted as if it appeared to be a real camera, or reuse the same tape over a short period of time. The events could be recorded but are recorded over shortly after so the actual use of the tape is limited. In both of these cases there is usually signs posted and an awareness created of the cameras. The idea is to build up the awareness and deter the criminals! If someone is possibly watching, people will alter their behaviours!
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