Big Brother isn't watching......

Thursday, July 10, 2008

But he should be. Yes, I am against the evils of a too tightly monitored and controlled populace. Who isn't? But, SOME monitoring and control can be a very good thing.

I live in a neighborhood with drive-by's, drug dealers on every corner and "working girls" on every sidewalk. Small children wander aimlessly, far from home, completely unsupervised. Crime is rampant. It isn't safe to leave the house after dark. Etc, etc, etc......

What would be the quickest route to minimize all this? In my opinion, it would be CCTV monitoring. Sticking a camera on every other block won't do it though. We need something very similar to the system the UK has in place. All public places are saturated with cameras (capable of face recognition and high resolution recording) and they are hooked up to loudspeakers. When someone is doing something they aren't supposed, a friendly police officer gets on the speaker and tells that person to stop or wait for the police or to go on their merry way. There is immediate action taken. People are actually caught in the act much, much more often. As a result, crime in these areas has dropped significantly. The deterrent of POSSIBLY getting caught keeps people from ever doing anything in the first place. It's a great system, if you don't mind Big Brother, that is.

Now, I think this system should only be implemented in high crime areas. If a neighborhood or street has proven a good track record with deterring the criminal element, they shouldn't be subjected to it. But if a neighborhood can't control it's more "rowdy" neighbors, the city should step in.

Personally, I know this is a bit pie in the sky as the funding needed is a definite hurdle, not to mention getting the citizenry to approve it. So, I will be moving my happy rear end out of here within a year or two. I just have to pray a drive-by doesn't come too close or the local dealer doesn't decide to set up shop on my front sidewalk, or worse, in the meantime.

Ok, Youngstown, chime in on this. I would love to hear your opinion on Big Brother coming to a street corner near you.......