Local News

CCTV is pointless

Last week an armed robber attempted to gain entry to the back entrance (oh-er!) to Lloyds TSB in the High Street, only to be foiled by staff and a member of the public, who he threatened by brandishing a knife.

If anyone has ever been to the back entrance of the bank in question they'll notice, high on the wall, there's a CCTV camera pointing directly at the cash machine and the back door to the bank.

However the only image available of the perpetrator is a poor quality, grainy image that appears to have been taken around Gandy Street. So do we take it that camera outside TSB is just a shell? Do they not bother to record the footage?

How many other cams like this don't work or have completely shite footage? Councils and security companies have been installing these cameras as a deterrent, but increasingly when something does happen we're seeing how unsuitable these systems are for the job.

Exeter City Councils own information page on CCTV states the cameras are:

• To help deter and detect crime
• To help reduce the fear of crime
• To assist in the overall management of Exeter City Council
• To enhance community safety, boost the economy and encourage greater use of the city centre
• To assist the Local Authorities in their enforcement and regulatory functions within the city Centre
• To monitor and manage traffic and transportation, including all sues [Sic] of the highway, and provide information to the media and public
• To assist in supporting civil proceedings

"The CCTV system operated within regulations contained in the Data Protection Act 1998. The City Council's control centre is staffed twenty-four hours a day by controllers who are trained and licensed by the Security Industry Authority for public space surveillance. Every image, captured on camera, is stored either digitally or on tape for a minimum of 28 days and for not more than 31days unless the police or other authorised body, seize the recording for use as evidence."

The fact that these 'digital' recordings are often as bad as if it was stored on a VHS cassette and completely useless when the recording is needed as evidence for identification, seems to have slipped the net entirely. You can get better quality footage from a YouTube clip!

It's thought that the guy who tried to rob Lloyds-TSB went on to do the same at the Ladbrokes in South Street, after entering through an unsecured back entrance.

Robin Hutchison, a spokesman for Ladbrokes, said: "We have got CCTV footage of the offender and have given the footage to the police."

What's the odds that this is just as grainy and unusable as the rest of the footage that we've seen so far?

I'm beginning to think that we stand much better chances of getting a good look at these guys if people start taking videos of suspicious characters and post them online.

So the question is, do you feel safe yet?

Original story