• tkc
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    1 year ago

    This bill needs to be killed. It’s just more surveillance wrapped in saving the kids.

    I’ve had people say to me “But what if you’re partner was attacked, you would be glad that CCTV/message snooping was there” when debating these topics.

    I’m not going to lie, that’s hard to argue against, I would if it helped catch them, but I’d rather it didn’t happen in the first place. I don’t know where I’m going with this…

    • noodle
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      1 year ago

      The uk legaladvice subreddit was a great example of why CCTV is absolutely useless.

      The police often just won’t retrieve it. Either because they have a bunch of other cases they think are a higher priority, or there is too much footage to go through.

      When they do eventually motivate themselves to go retrieve it, it has either been overwritten or doesn’t show what you need.

      • tkc
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        1 year ago

        Yes, absolutely.

        Some friends and I were attacked at a taxi rank on a busy high street many years ago. 3 were stabbed/slashed with a bottle and we all had a night in A&E. One has permanent face scars from it.

        CCTV showed them getting into a taxi, the taxi driver was found and said they dropped them off at a petrol station.

        The police had all that info and got the CCTV from the petrol station, and still couldn’t/didn’t identify them.

      • digdilem
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        1 year ago

        I’m not sure that’s broadly true, given the number of prosecutions where CCTV is given as evidence.

        I’ve no doubt the examples you give are true, and that it happens far too often, but that’s not the same as saying cctv is useless.

    • jtb
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      1 year ago

      The original purpose of the police was crime prevention. They should be out on the beat, not sitting in the office staring at screens. Having police wandering around deters crime.