CCTV+outside+the+UK


 * CCTV outside the UK **

**You're being watched, New York!** Bill Brown's tours point out surveillance cameras

Walking tours are one of the best ways to discover New York City, and one unique walking tour attempts to discover some of the hundreds of surveillance cameras monitoring the Big Apple.Anti-surveillance activist Bill Brown leads the tours in an attempt to raise awareness of the prevalence and purpose of the cameras.The tour highlights a debate over security versus privacy and civil liberties that has gained increased currency since the 11 September attacks.

**Security versus civil liberties -** If you ever have the feeling of being watched, it is most likely not simple paranoia.In 1998, the New York Civil Liberties Union sent a team of 40 volunteers around the city to take a census of surveillance cameras. They found almost 3,000 cameras, and Mr Brown estimates that several thousand more cameras have been installed since then. And he believes that some Americans might feel the increased surveillance might be necessary to prevent additional terrorist attacks. "We're being asked to give up civil liberties for security," Mr Brown said, but he sees it as a false choice and quoted founding father Benjamin Franklin. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." And he questions the efficacy of cameras, noting that a number of security cameras were installed at the World Trade Centre following the 1993 bombing. "There were so many cameras at the World Trade Centre site that I couldn't count them, and they didn't do any good," he said. He believes that the cameras violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees citizens be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. To make his point, he read the Fourth Amendment below one of the security cameras, saying that those manning the camera would be able to read the text of the amendment over his shoulder. Law enforcement agencies, especially police departments in New York and Washington, find themselves having to add increased anti-terrorism duties to other law enforcement duties. Police say cameras allow them to monitor more areas with fewer personnel, dispatching patrols to areas where they observe suspicious activity.
 * [[image:http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1865000/images/_1865828_brown4th150.jpg width="150" height="180" caption="Bill Brown"]] Mr Brown reads the US Constitution for the benefit of those manning the cameras ||
 * [[image:http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1865000/images/_1865828_camwatch150.jpg width="150" height="180" caption="Man stands below a surveillance camera"]] Ever have the feeling you're being watched? ||
 * Stretching thin resources -** Since the September 11 attacks, law enforcement officials are considering increasing their use of surveillance cameras.

During terrorist alerts, police in Washington now operate a $7m central surveillance facility that takes feeds from 20 cameras in and around key areas such as the Capitol, the White House and several important monuments. Police in Washington have invited the American Civil Liberties Union, a civil liberties organisation, to review the system and help craft policies for its use which respect privacy and constitutional rights, says Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey.
 * [[image:http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1865000/images/_1865828_dccambbc150.jpg width="150" height="180" caption="Surveillance cameras"]] Police are using more cameras as they find their resources stretched with anti-terrorism activities ||

**Watching the watchers -** Mr Brown says that the New York Police Department has not been as open about their use of cameras since the 11 September attacks. And authorities are sensitive to revealing the security they provide. Mr Brown cautioned those on the tour about taking pictures near the United Nations, saying that it was against federal law. "They can shoot us, but we can't shoot them," he said. And indeed, a government security officer ordered the film crew to stop. Later, the tour paused across the street a gated entrance near the United Nations. A camera had been panning the area in front of the gate. "It's not moving anymore," a woman on the tour noted. The camera was trained on the group, and it did not start moving until the group began moving again. Mr Brown believes that if the archetypical New Yorker were aware of all the cameras their response would be: "You looking at me? Hey, are you looking at me?" Indeed, one New Yorker on the tour was concerned about the increased use of cameras. She said her privacy was very important to her. But when it comes to balancing privacy and security, she said, "I can see both sides of the debate."  [ []] **Paris to quadruple number of CCTV cameras -** Paris will quadruple the number of closed-circuit police cameras in its streets by the end of the next year, after President Nicolas Sarkozy's promise to emulate London in an attempt to track crime and terrorism threats. While the Paris metro and rail networks already operate around 9,500 CCTV devices, police have only 330 at their disposal to survey outside public areas. The new plan, dubbed "A Thousand Cameras for Paris", will raise that number to more than 1,200 – with most installed in high-risk areas and outside railway and underground stations. The figure is still small compared with London, where each citizen is caught on average several hundred times a day. Britain has about four million closed-circuit security cameras compared with France's 340,000. The CCTV drive follows Mr Sarkozy's pledge last autumn to follow London's surveillance lead. "I am very impressed by the efficiency of the British police thanks to this network of cameras," the French president said. "In my mind, there is no contradiction between respecting individual freedoms and the installation of cameras to protect everyone's security." Until now, large meeting places such as the Place de la République, where strike protests usually start, and the busy Champs-Elysées were already heavily equipped. But police want to beef up surveillance outside the Gare du Nord – where the London to Paris Eurostar terminates – the scene of several gang battles in recent months. It will increase on the Champ-de-Mars – the area around the Eiffel tower – where violent youths recently attacked a group of students celebrating the end of their baccalaureate exams. More cameras will be installed in the 19th arrondissement, where a Jewish youth was killed in June in an apparent anti-Semitic attack, as well as in the 18th arrondissement – home to Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Paris's police chief will present the plan to city councillors next week. The capital's Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, long opposed to CCTV, recognised its effectiveness in fighting crime in his campaign for re-election this year. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #282828; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"The objective is not to cover every road, every corner of the city, but to put video means where common sense dictates," one of the plan's authors told //Le Figaro,// which leaked the details. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #282828; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Many of the current cameras are so low-resolution that the images are unusable in a court of law, local politicians say. Interior minister Michèle Alliot-Marie will draw up a charter to go with the new generation of cameras, limiting to 30 the days recorded images can be stored. There will be strict controls on who is allowed to view them. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #282828; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">French police also hope a mini spy-in-the-sky drone the size of a toy glider will help them track rioters and fight crime. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[ [] ]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**Nice to be CCTV capital of France -** The city of Nice has announced plans to more than double the number of CCTV cameras by the end of this year, becoming the most watched place in France Mayor Christian Estrosi has announced 342 extra cameras will be installed, on top of the 282 already operating. He said he wanted Nice to become "the best-equipped town in France" for video-surveillance technology. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Some of these cameras will be equipped with number-plate recognition technology and will be placed on main roads into the city to spot cars that have been reported stolen. Estrosi unveiled the €7.6m project at the opening of a new CCTV control centre in the city.

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