What's Your Opinion of Putting Spy Cameras On City Streets? (page 4)

EvilForce

Class...

You are lucky since Canada and Germany have very strict laws against CCTV's taping public streets.

Ellie

ok,personal story coming up.

Last year my partner was put in prison for street robbery.

Had his offence been detected by a monitored camera then the police would probably have intervened and the offence would not have been so serious.

However, because there was no camera and he was the only one of his 4 friends involved in the incident to make a confesion he had to serve a prison sentence while the other guilty parties walked away scot free.

Now he is out of prison and wearing an electronic tag which is far more invasive (although arguably he only has himself to blame) and costly to the government.

My point is, had there been a camera recording the events the attack might never have taken place or become so serious, also the other offenders would have been punished.

EvilForce

Wow,,, I'm not sure how to respond to this ....

So are you saying that the cameras would have protected your partner from himself? That if he thought he was being watched he might not have commited the crime? And that by having cameras justice could have been done more fairly since your partner confessed and the others did not? Your partner I assume did not turn in the other 3?

tetrapod.sapien

ellie,

so, cameras are good because criminals get treated a little better?

Ellie

Tetrapod - no, I do not believe that cameras cause criminals to be treated better, the opposite infact.

Yes EvilForce, I am sure that if my partner knew that he was being watched by a camera he would not have gotten involved in the crime.

Infact the crime would probably never have been committed.

The other 3 offenders felt no remorse for what they had done and so lied to the police,my partner on the other hand felt bad and made a confession without even a solicitor being present.

What bothers me is that the other 3 couldn't care less about the victim and are still terrorising the streets, they need to be punished and I believe a camera would either have prevented the attack or made sure they got a long stretch in jail.

tetrapod.sapien

I believe a camera would either have prevented the attack or made sure they got a long stretch in jail.

or maybe not.

Ellie

Tetrapod, just say there was a camera and the attack still took place, there would be video evidence that my partner was not the only person involved, hence they would have recieved a similar sentence to that of my partner.

EvilForce

Ellie...your partner obviously knew you wouldn't approve of his crime right? Yet he did it anyway. He knew his parents would not approve right? He knew it was against the law right?

Using this analogy we might as well allow cameras in our home. That way we could see when domestic violence and child abuse was happening. Or home burglaries. Or rapes. Government cannot save us from ourselves.

I'm sorry but your boyfriend/partner has no one to blame but himself. He did the crime...he must do the time.

You didnt' directly answer my question. Did your partner finger / expose the other 3 co-conspirators? Could the victim not attest that it was more than 1 attacker? What exactly did they do to this person?

Also FEELING safe walking down the street is different from actually BEING safe.

Ellie

My partner chose not to grass on his friends (I think he should have done) and actually lied during his confession to put all the blame on himself.

Basically what happened is he was walking home from the pub with 3 friends, they started a fight with another group of males, during the fight a mobile phone was stolen.

The guy whos phone it was made a statement to the police but could not identify the person who took the phone, no forensic evidence as they had all been fighting and had all handled the phone.

It was Gaz's first offence, the other 3 were known trouble makers, I'm sure had there been video evidence the police would have been happy to charge all 4 but as it happens Gaz was the only one willing to confess.

He is not a danger to the public, believe me he has well and truly learned his lesson but as for the other 3, they believe thay are untouchable.

Very often with these repeat offenders, they get such a reputation that the public are too frightened to give evidence, that is another reason why I think cctv is a good thing, if they are filmed committing an offence then the cps have enough evidence to convict.

Ellie

Please don't get me wrong, I am not a criminal or a criminally minded person, I have never committed an offence in my life and do not for one second condone my partner for what he did.

I believe that criminals should be sent to prison for much harsher sentences than judges are dishing out at the momment and I do not agree with the 'holiday camp' approach that prison govenors like to promote.

What I am saying is that cameras should be used on the streets to detect crime, during and after it has taken place, and help ensure that ALL criminals are punished, not just the ones that choose to confess.

What's Your Opinion of Putting Spy Cameras On City Streets?

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