You Make Me Want To Shout

[SiHart]

CCTV Cameras that shout at yobs are being introduced around the country....

CCTV cameras fitted with loudspeakers that bark orders at anti-social yobs and criminals are to be installed across the country.
The "talking" spy cameras are being set up in 20 areas across the country after a successful pilot scheme in Middlesbrough.
The test project saw vandals told to stop what they were doing and litterbugs ordered to take their rubbish with them or find a bin.
Council workers in a control centre monitored pictures from 12 talking cameras in the town and communicated directly with people on the street at the flick of a switch.
The scheme has been criticised by opponents as "Big Brother gone mad".
But the Home Secretary has insisted it was proven to work and the communities sharing nearly 500,000 in grants to adapt cameras would feel the benefits.
"The new funding for Talking CCTV is aimed at the small minority who think it is acceptable to litter our streets, vandalise our communities and damage our properties," John Reid said.
"We all pay council tax so in the end we all pay when our communities are disrespected - both in our pockets as well as in our daily lives."
Competitions are being held at schools in many of the areas for children to become the "voice" of CCTV cameras, he added.
"By funding and supporting these local schemes, the Government is encouraging children to send this clear message to grown ups: act anti-socially and you will face the shame of being publicly embarrassed."
:: The 21 areas which have received grants for Talking CCTV proposals are: Southwark; Barking and Dagenham; Reading; Thanet; Harlow; Norwich; Ipswich; Plymouth; Gloucester; Derby; Northampton; Mansfield; Nottingham; Coventry; Sandwell; Wirral; Blackpool; Salford; Middlesbrough; South Tyneside; and Darlington.

So what do we think? Is this just another example of Big Brother gone mad, or will they be a good deterrent?

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

This reminds me of that Smell of Reeves and Mortimer sketch about remembering the Country Code, where the unseen Patrick Allen berates two fellows as they break the law...

"HEY... YOU! ARE YOU WEARING LIPSTICK?"

[Alex]

Tis madness. Maybe it'll cut down on a tiny amount of vandalism, but I bet the cost of installing all the hardware will mean it's not worth in the long run. I suppose it's meant to be just another deterrent, but like Asbo's, it'll turn out to be something the anti-social yobs boast about when it happens to them.

I'd quite like to be the voice though. If I saw a drunken bloke about to wee against a shop window or something I'd pretend to be the shop window...beg for a urine free experience...maybe mock his winky a little...and generally freak him out...

[Si Hunt]

This is a non-story. If you mess about on the underground you get yelled at through a loud-speaker. It's neither a problem nor a particuarly interesting talking point.

Si.

[Alex]

But what about the cost Si? If every CCTV camera had one fitted it'd be an enormous waste of public money - shouldn't we concerned about that?

[Trudi G]

I'm not concerned about the cost if it stops vandals and thugs from going about their business.

[Si Hunt]

I doubt they'd be able to put them on every CCTV camera - don't forget you've got to have a bloke sitting somewhere watching out output as well. It'll probably just be high risk areas. We need someone guarding the streets, the Police don't seem to want to do it anymore.

Si.

[Martin Penny]

I don't think its 'Big Brother gone mad'. But I can't see it helping that much, then again, a very loud voice shouting 'THAT MAN IS STEALING A CAR!' might cause said man to think twice.

[Si Hunt]

Martin's words have the pang of truth.

Si.

[Carol Baynes]

As long as they don't shout at me!

[Captain Tancredi]

There are ways and means of getting people to behave. Quite a few railway stations have a "this is a non-smoking station so put that fag out" messages which can be played at the touch of a button if the controller sees somebody smoking. Alternatively, somebody in my Russian class was caught smoking in the Kiev underground and hauled in by the KGB...

[Paul Monk]

I reckon they should just mock you instead.
So if you're having a fight, it could shout "Call that a punch! My gran fights better than you you big girl, and she's 102, arthritic and has no limbs."

It would work, although the cameras would have to be high up, otherwise you'd be replacing them every week.

[Simon R]

I really cannot stand to see people dropping litter so if it stops that then it's worth a try at least.