CCTV News This Week : 22/02/2012 How many cameras do we need and are we protected?

Posted on by
Reply

How many cameras do we need? And are we protected?

UK councils have spent more than £500 million pounds over the last four years installing and operating CCTV cameras.

Big Brother Watches’ Nick Pickles, the campaign director explains:

“There is no credible evidence that more cameras will reduce crime, yet councils have poured enough money into CCTV in just four years that would have put more than four thousand extra police officers on the streets.”

Should we be spending this amount of money on CCTV or should we be focusing on more people power – more officers on the streets. Is the government using CCTV as an easy way out or is it in fact benefiting us by having more surveillance? Plus, who is it actually benefiting? The people, the police, the criminals?

“Despite millions of cameras, Britain’s crime rate is not significantly lower than comparable countries that do not have such a vast surveillance state.”

This story was released a day after British Councils announced they will be spending more money towards CCTV – £79 million pounds to be exact. Explaining that Bristol apparently has less CCTV than many other cities; and so gets £928,000 for 47 cameras as well as £1.3 million for schemes on two housing estates.

However another report by This is Bristol  explains how Bristol has more CCTV surveillance than Manchester and Liverpool combined. — So, are there too many cameras? Or not enough?

Banksy’s “Ostrich CCTV” in London

The Daily Mail explains how Home Office minister John Denham described:

“Knowing that there is an extra set of eyes watching over their communities helps to reassure people that they will be safe.

“It also acts as an important set of eyes for the police, providing valuable evidence where incidents occur.”

As much as CCTV can be used to help beat crime and to help give evidence in court, it is also a tool that can be used to intrude on people’s privacy. Living in a country so overly controlled by CCTV means we need to know and want to know if the data collected is used in an appropriate manner and isn’t being misused. How do we know who to trust?

Do we really need more CCTV cameras? And do they stop or deter crime?

Or are we all so used to seeing them that we carry on with whatever it was we were doing anyway? Perhaps, the fact that most of us believe that CCTV isn’t actually that great quality – if you wear a hood it would be almost impossible to identify you – this is not entirely true. There are many cameras out there that are much higher quality than many of us have seen. As we have seen recently with the BBC Program Burglar in the House, the police force are using CCTV and hidden cameras in various ways to fight against crime – there is a lot more out there than what is in plain sight.

So, this leads us back to the first question… How many cameras do we need and are we protected?

 

Spy Cam Scenarios – Spring Watch Bird Box Camera

Posted on by
Reply

Scenario:

It’s almost Spring and the birds are beginning to nest. I have a lovely bird box in my garden and I would like to be able to somehow watch the nesting without disturbing the birds. Is there anything you can suggest?

 

 

 

 

Solution:

There are several cameras that you can use for this scenario, but the most popular is the Wireless Bird Box Camera. This transmits colour video and records straight to a SD card  which you can insert into a Computer or Mac to view your video. Once the SD Card has been filled to capacity, the Mini DVR can automatically overwrite the oldest footage – so you don’t have to worry about upsetting the birds. This camera also has motion detection so it will record whenever the birds move, feed, hatch or just check out the box. You can also watch a live stream by plugging your receiver into your TV or laptop and enjoy the beauty of nature in your living room or home.

D1 Mini DVR with bird box IR Camera

Spy Cam Scenario – Protecting My Home Office

Posted on by
Reply

Scenario:

I would like to keep an eye on my study at home, I do most of my work from here and have a hidden safe in the room. I would like to install some sort of device that can record if anyone was to go inside my study and disrupt or steal anything. What is the best thing for this?

 

Solution:

One of the most discreet and therefore great choice for this sort of situation would be the Spy Wall Clock. It looks like a typical wall clock with normal AA batteries to power the hands, but with a tiny camera just above the number 6. The camera itself can either be mains operated or powered by a 6V battery. It has a very simple remote with buttons to press for on/off motion detection  so there is no need for any set up. It also has a USB slot so that you can connect to your computer, but also a micro SD card slot as the camera will record both audio and video files to this.

We have had this tried and tested by us and our customers and the suspects don’t notice anything other than an ordinary clock, even when they may suspect it to be a camera they can’t find anything to suggest so.

 

 

This image depicts how high the quality and definition is from this tiny hidden camera. It also gives you an idea of where to place it in relation to where you would want a shot of. Here it is facing the door and the security safe to the left of the shot.

This Week’s CCTV News – 9th February

Posted on by
Reply

News that everyone is talking about this week are these two major stories:

Trendnet’s Security Threat

The first, a rather shocking bit of evidence exposing a breach of security within Trendnet’s home CCTV cameras. The blog Console Cowboys first published this information in January, giving instructions on how to access thousands of streaming personal IP cameras. This is obviously a huge breach of privacy and has affected normal people during their everyday home lives.

It seems that even though the problem has been broadcasted live since the 10th Jan the Trendnet Company failed to announce this major issue in any form of media release until the 7th of Feb – in which information was added to their company website.

If you have any of their software and are concerned it may involve your systems then click here to find a list of affected cameras.

This of course highlights all the issues many of us have concerning CCTV and the amount of surveillance that is recording our everyday movements. Can someone see you through your window? Should you always have your curtains drawn? Does someone know what time you leave for work and what train you catch every morning? – Well in this case can someone watch you getting undressed from their own bedroom on their own computer?

We should never be put in such a vulnerable position again, we all have a right to our own privacy – perhaps this country has become overrun by surveillance? But without it how would we fight crime?

This brings us onto our next news of the week.

Speaking CCTV Cameras

Some of us will be aware of these being installed in cities around the country, but the one in the news this week has created so much hype that suddenly everyone is aware of them.

The camera in question was installed by Camden Council in the Walker House estate near London’s St Pancras. The camera was heard giving orders to residents and visitors alike: “Stop, this is a restricted area and your photograph is being taken. It will be sent for processing if you don’t leave the area now.”

After a resident filmed the situation and broadcasted it on youtube there has been a lot of attention and mentions of us living in a police state. The video received over 50,000 youtube hits, so quite a lot of us obviously have something to say about it.

Camden Council were forced to deactivate the speaking camera and apologised for disturbing the residents.

A police state you say? Well, around two million CCTV cameras are believed to be installed across the country and ones similar to the one mentioned with voice functions were first introduced in 2007 in Middlesbrough. So, we ask this – are we all paranoid and feel safe with CCTV surveillance or is it just a clever plan to monitor us and turn us into humanoids?

Spy Cam Scenarios – Partner cheating? – Time to find out if your suspicions are true.

Posted on by
Reply

Scenario:

For a while now I’ve been suspecting my partner is having an affair. However I don’t know how to prove this. Could you help me with what the best way to do this would be? I’ve been hesitant now for a few weeks but I think it’s time that I find an answer. I need something that is discreet and reliable but has no chance of being recognised.

Advice:

It really depends on what you want to find out, but if you suspect that your partner is bringing someone back to your home then the Spy Cam Alarm Clock would be a good choice.
You can have it beside the bed and it will function as a real alarm clock whilst recording any movement. The camera has a wide angled lens and so can be placed in the corner of the room for a corner-to-corner view. There is even an inbuilt microphone and night vision, with very high resolution. The footage is recorded onto an SD card and so you can plug it straight into your computer to play it back.

Burglar in the House – Using hidden mini cams

Posted on by
Reply

There was a great program on BBC1 called Burglar in the House last night explaining how Nottingham police force have been investigating crime in their area using hidden cameras in set up rooms. These set up spaces are called ‘capture homes’, which are ordinary homes fitted with hidden mini spy cams.

The police also take over specific ‘capture rooms’ in normal houses that are based in crime hotspots and set it up with faulty goods, such as laptops, iPhones or TVs. They then may leave a window unlocked or the curtains open so that it becomes tempting to criminals. They also have alarms that send signal back to the local police station and the police will turn up within minutes.

Any object in the room can have a hidden camera within it, anything from a biscuit tin, a coke can or even a DVD case. The burglars are so unaware that they even look straight at the cameras and the quality of the images are so good that officers can easily identify them. Forensic liquid which can be concealed in all manner of things in the premises will spray onto the criminal. This liquid will stay on the suspect’s clothes or particles of their skin, so when they have been identified they then thoroughly check for particles on their clothes or skin.

They would use cameras like the Pinhole Camera in this photo. The camera is smaller than a sugar cube and ensures very high resolution. As mentioned above, you can hide this anywhere, and so is the perfect camera for highly discreet surveillance.

We recommend you watch the program and would love feedback with your views on if you think it is fair on the criminals or not. Is it too much of a good opportunity to miss in their minds? And should they be punished for this regardless?

Spy Cam Scenarios – Protecting your Car from being Vandalized

Posted on by
Reply

Scenario:

I have just bought a new car and I’m worried it might be vandalized when I leave it to go to work. Previously my car has been scratched and the side mirror was broken off when left for a prolonged period of time. Is there anything I can do to stop this or something that can help me find evidence to convict the people doing it?

Advice:

It’s a tricky situation when it comes to looking out for your car. But we do recommend having a camera so that you have evidence but also to see what the best area is to leave your car. We would advise you to use a  Pinhole Spy Camera. 

This not only has a very high resolution it also has low lux vision, so will be able to record in low light conditions and is ideal for those wintery months when it gets dark that much earlier. Having a wide angle lens it is able to capture most of your car’s surroundings and anyone that should come into contact with your car.

You can place the camera on the parcel shelf or even on the dashboard of your car. You can even put it in a tissue box like the one in this picture. Don’t worry about concealing it as it isn’t much bigger than a 50p coin and even if they do take a good look, you have them on camera!

Hope that helps.

If you need further advice do not hesitate to call our team on 0117 3252470.