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London neighbourhood has own reality TV show Ian Morgan / Press Association | May 8 2006 A new CCTV system that allows residents to watch footage on their own television screens is to be launched today. The "community cam" service - the first to allow the public to monitor CCTV from their homes - is to be launched in London's East End. The system will also allow police to make direct public appeals for information using "incident alerts" that break into regular television programming. From the beginning of 2007, it is expected homes across London and several local authorities in the Midlands and the North West will have access to the scheme. CCTV was first installed in the UK in 1961 at a London train station. By 1996, all of England's major cities, except Leeds, had installed video surveillance systems in their city centres. There are 25 million CCTV cameras in operation worldwide, with at least 2.5 million in the UK. According to statistics, the average citizen is caught on CCTV cameras 300 times a day. CCTV is not only used to monitor locations and help apprehend criminals. Almost every bank cash machine in the country uses CCTV to record you making your transaction. Home Office guidelines recommend a minimum 120% size image for identification by CCTV to be permissible in court - this means that you should provide a view (of at least) from the head to the knees. Many anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been secured using CCTV footage as evidence. One of the main advantages is that victims and witnesses may not need to go through the ordeal of giving evidence. Not all criminologists are sure of its merits, however. A comprehensive study of the impact of CCTV in Glasgow found no evidence it reduced crime or the fear of crime. ---------------------------------------------------
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