CCTV

The ineffectiveness of CCTV makes front page news in this week's Denbighshire Free Press. It seems that CCTV is just about useless at catching criminals or those perpetrating anti-social behaviour. Yet, Britons have more cameras watching us than any other country, bar none.

The Free Press quotes a number of local town councils queuing up for CCTV. It doesn't mention Rhuthun's, though the town council's believed to be in favour. The newspaper does, however, quote Rhuthun bobby PC John Lloyd-Davies, who is vehement that CCTV is an ‘important tool in the armoury against crime’.

Do we need CCTV in Rhuthun? Recent reports in the Free Press remind us that crime and disorder are decreasing in the town, not increasing.

Do we therefore want some anonymous person is some remote bunker (probably in Y Rhyl or police HQ in Bae Colwyn Bay) busybodying themselves into and recording our daily lives?

Ah, but we should be relieved there are processes in place to prevent abuse of this new technology. There are many safeguards for many things but that doesn't mean that there aren't rouge trader types about.

Vicky Sennett, a local representative of libertarian organisation No2ID stated in the Free Press, ‘I know of no one who feels safer as a result and I don't believe the claims frequently made by the authorities that people feel safer have any serious foundation’. She goes on to say that cameras cannot possibly cover every area, so crimes will happen elsewhere instead.

So, there's the rub. Rhuthun probably won't feel safer with CCTV, it pobably doesn’t need it with crime decreasing, but without it, we are to be subjected to more infractions as people view Rhuthun as a soft target away from prying eyes. Marvellous. You can't win.