A history of video surveillance in England 1913: surreptious photography of imprisoned suffragettes begins. 1949: publication of George Orwells 1984, which is set in London. 1960: Metropolitan Police use two temporary cameras in Trafalgar Square to monitor crowds attracted to the arrival of the Thai royal family. 5 November 1960: Metropolitan Police use two temporary cameras in Trafalgar Square to monitor Guy Fawkes Day activity. 1961: installtion of video surveillance system at a London Transport train station. 1964: Liverpool police experiment with four covert CCTV cameras in the citys center. 1965: British Railways installs cameras to watch tracks near Dagenham that had been vandalized. 1967: Photoscan (business) markets video surveillance systems to retail outlets as a means of deterring and catching shoplifters. October 1968: Metropolitan Police use temporary cameras in Grosvenor Square to monitor anto-Vietnam War demonstrators. 1969: Metropolitan Police install permanent cameras in Grosvenor Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square. Total number of cameras nationally: 67. 1974: installation of video surveillance systems to monitor traffic on the major arterial roads in and through London. 1975: installation of video surveillance system in four London Underground train stations. 1975: use of video surveillance systems at soccer matches begins. 1984: installation of surveillance cameras at major rallying points for public protest in central London. Picketers surveilled during miners strike. August 1985: installation of street-based video surveillance system in Bournemouth, a south coast seaside resort. 1987: use of video surveillance systems at parking garages owned by local authorities begins. 1988: installation of video surveillance systems at council estates run by local authorities. 1989: civil rights group Liberty publishes Whos watching you? video surveillance in public places. 1992: installation of street-based video surveillance system in Newcastle (a major northern city). The system in Newcastle is closed-circuit television (CCTV) that uses microwaves (an open circuit) to link to the citys main police station. 1992: use of speed cameras and red-light enforcement cameras on the national road network begins. August 1993: bombing of Bishopsgate in London by the IRA leads to the construction of the Ring of Steel around the City (London financial district). Measures include street-based surveillance cameras. 1994: central government (the Home Office) publishes CCTV: Looking Out for You. Prime Minister John Major states: I have no doubt we will hear some protest about a threat to civil liberties. Well, I have no sympathy whatsoever for so-called liberties of that kind. Between 1994 and 1997, the Home Office spends a total of 38 million pounds of CCTV schemes. July 1994: use of covert video surveillance systems at automatic teller machines (ATMs) begins. 1996: government spending on CCTV accounts for more than three-quarters of total crime prevention budget. August 1996: all of Englands major cities except Leeds have video surveillance systems in their city centers. 10 May 1997: public demonstration against surveillance cameras in Brighton, organized by South Downs Earth First!. July 1997: London police announce installation of surveillance camera system that automatically reads, recognizes and tracks automobiles by their license plates. October 1998: use of face recognition software in the London Borough of Newham begins.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 12:00:40 +0000
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