CCTV: Yay or Nay?

On Wednesday, Vancouver city council voted on whether the city should have a CCTV (closed circuit television) surveillance system.  The motion, brought up by Councillor Melissa De Genova, did not pass – meaning that there will be no CCTV cameras coming anytime soon. This isn’t the first time that this motion was brought to Vancouver City Council. It was actually brought up in 2018 and also failed to go through. Many major cities around the world have CCTV systems. For example, London has close to one million CCTV systems. When broken down, this equates to about one CCTV camera for 10 people.

Infographic: The Most Surveilled Cities in the World | Statista

So why are they wanting to bring these cameras in? In a way to combat, crime there has been a spike in crime recently. This motion was brought up by Councillor Melissa De Genova on Tuesday of this week.

So what are some of the pros and cons of having CCTV cameras? Below are just a few ideas that are for and against this proposition.

Pros: 

  1. Public safety may be improved
  2. Crime, vandalism and theft rate may be reduced
  3. Help law enforcement catch criminals

Cons:

  1. Purchasing and installing the cameras
  2. Their effectiveness is not guaranteed as they can be easily abused
  3. Legal and privacy issues

Please provide your opinions that are between 20 to 25 detailed sentences. You can either be for,  against, or agree with certain parts of the motion (only if you can’t choose!). Remember to back up your opinions with details similar to what I have listed above regarding the pros and cons of CCTV cameras.

24 thoughts on “CCTV: Yay or Nay?

  1. rebecca24 says:

    Personally I have mixed opinions about CCTV cameras. On one hand they can help catch criminals or people speeding, or even seeing who is wrong in a car accent. But at the same time they are not 100% accurate, and they can be a privacy issue. For example, if a person knew they really were not supposed to be viewed by a camera they cat easily shoot it, but on the other hand they would need to be cautious of not being seen by it as they are shooting it. So they would need to be using a sniper rifle or would have to be very far. There is also a large price on these cameras so if you look currently in Burnaby there is at least one every OTHER light. This is because the government cannot afford to get one for each light. This means anyone can memorize where there is a camera just like I told you. Did you know that there are specific devices that you can put into your car that actually tells you went there is a CCTV camera . I actually know this because my dad has this device and when we pass by or getting close to a CCTV camera it says ” kayband ” and it basically warns you that there is a camera ahead. With a CCTV camera around I would feel the slightest bit safe. This is because people can see the cameras and even if something knock on wood does happen the CCTV camera can prove that my dad or who was driving was not at fault. These cameras also help the police force and detective force find certain people. it will also help them find the license plate of the person but that is only if the camera takes a picture soon enough. But what would happen if a Ambulance or a Firetruck has an emergency and has to pass a red light? Think how many pictures a day are taken because of a emergency. That will be thousands or millions or pointless pictures a month or even a day! But if there is really something so bad that it becomes a law suit. The lawyers or the Police can easily defend or prosecute someone. This is because they have evidence from the cameras which can easily prove a point. That’s enough from me like I said before I don’t REALLY have an opinion on this because I see good and bad in it . I gave my reasons of why, but some may say that I’m leaning towards the no side, but I’m really not I simply don’t care.

  2. brandon38 says:

    CCTV cameras. They disregard privacy, cost lots of money, they are vulnerable to exploits, and they don’t stop theft and vandals. I firmly believe that CCTV cameras would be extremely useless in our society now. If anything, they are more harmful, than helpful. My reasoning behind this is that although it may be true that they can catch car thieves in parking lots, people that are vandalizing private property, or seeing bank robbers, they can’t help the situation. They completely disregard your privacy, constantly spying and watching you on a day-to-day basis. And they could be installed anywhere to watch whatever you’re doing, from being in schools, to being in Justin’s room to see what he does at 3 AM. And if placed in stores, it may cause employees to feel like you don’t trust them, which is never a good dynamic. As well, they cost lots of money, from ranging from 90$, to thousands of dollars. But not only are they very expensive they are normally very low quality as well. The CCTV footage from security cameras appears to be grainy and of low-quality because of the file resolution and compression, the way it was recorded, and the cropping that usually occurs on such video files, among others. While they are also bad quality, CCTV cameras can be hacked in several ways. Lack of elementary security features, using default settings and simple passwords, and security camera hack apps all result in cameras and baby monitors, webcams getting hacked. They are also very vulnerable to exploits, as when cars cross a red light, the camera will attempt to take a picture of the car’s license plate but it’s quite hit-or-miss as the cars might be going to fast. CCTV In general, the issue of “video loss” on CCTV security cameras or DVR/NVR, in many cases, comes down to several factors: insufficient power supply, unstable network, wiring problems, hardware failures, inefficient camera software and IP address conflicts. CCTV cameras can be illegal if your CCTV captures images beyond your property boundary, such as your neighbours’ property or public streets and footpaths, then your use of the system is subject to the data protection laws. This does not mean you are breaking the law. At the end of the day, the average security camera is an electronic device. As we all know, too much of an impact or water in the wrong area can effectively disable a security camera. Outdoor security cameras feature an effective exterior to defend themselves against standard weather patterns, but if the wind carries debris that impacts the camera, strikes around it with lightning, or a nefarious person tampers with it, the camera could be disabled. While some products may be more effective than others, certain conditions or events will always be capable of neutralizing electronics in general. But it does mean that, as the CCTV user, you are a data controller. A traditional security camera system can be very expensive. The implementation of security cameras typically requires running cables, as referenced in a past post, and includes extensive labor and multiple products to implement successfully. While that does not necessarily apply to smaller systems and wireless cameras, initial installation typically brings with it a heftier price tag. So in the end, i believe that CCTV cameras are useless and harmful, thank you for reading!

  3. kristie2 says:

    I believe that cameras shouldn’t be used because the people who put the cameras in want to watch everything we do. Cameras are also a bit creepy and scary if someone was watching all my actions in my opinion. Also, in the real-world cameras are quite expensive and take a lot of time to install, it requires a lot of preparation to install one. One CCTV camera equals about 150$ to 200$ and this does not include installation costs. I believe that in most public places, there shouldn’t be cameras because it invades the privacy of people but, in places like schools and traffic signals, I think they are necessary. For example, if a kid fights with another kid, that kid would get away with it since there will be no recorded evidence. Having cameras will show the recorded evidence and prevent kids from getting away with breaking rules. Now, considering traffic signals, the cameras can catch drunken drivers or people who don’t follow the law. That is why I think that cameras are necessary for certain places. I believe, like I said before, that cameras in public places are a threat to people’s privacy but, if someone hacks into them and gets access to the recordings, they can use them for wrongdoings like inappropriate acts. In addition, cameras are practically useless in very busy places like Metrotown Mall, the Skytrain, the bus, etc. This is because say, for instance, if someone tries to commit a crime on the bus, there are going to be too many witnesses who observe the crime, making the cameras pointless. I would feel extremely scared and I’m sure many people would also be very conscious of their actions being under surveillance all the time. Going back to the cost of a camera, the government uses our tax money to put cameras in public places. I feel that this is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money and time. Instead, the government should use the resources on other important areas like supplies to bring people above the poverty line.

  4. icheng1 says:

    BY ICHENG LO.

    They are not mandatory. This is because Ino body wants robots to watch you. And if they watch me, I will feel a little uncomfortable because it is watching all our movement and action. For example, I work at a store and there is a camera watching me twenty-four seven then I will feel like, am I doing something wrong etc. Also, it also costs a lot of money like two hundred to three hundred dollars per camera and even more that is because you must also set it up to make it work. The cameras aren’t even excellent quality, like the footage looks weird the cameras might sometimes glitch. There is also a chance a virus goes in the camera. Something like if you are taking a picture at someone’s license plate the camera might delay. This is because the car goes too fast. There is also going to be a particularly good hacker in the world that can hacker into the camera system to stop the recording. Not only the camera Costes a lot of money it also needs Eletric to power it than the government need to use a lot of money. What if some Random person grabs the camera or someone hits it, it can also be destroyed. For example, if there is an excessively massive storm, tornado etc. Coming the city’s way then a lot of cameras will be broken down, and all that money was for nothing. It is also agency the law. For example, there are some cameras in your neighborhood, and it accidentally takes a picture of you taking a bath and that is very inappropriate is because the camera saw your private parts, and the footage got leaked than that is a bad problem. Somedays there is going to be crimes so the police will come to catch the criminals so they need to drive over the speed limit to catch then or else they will get away. Then the cameras will write the police license plate down. Then somebody needs to go back to the footage and find the exact one, so that progress will take an exceptionally long time. If the government want to put the cameras down than the people in Canada need to pay more money, because of tax. This is because the government does not have that much money. These are the reasons that I think that the cameras don’t really matter, and they are also very useless. Hope you enjoy!!!!!!!!!

  5. jaden32 says:

    I like and don’t like CCTV cameras because they can help catch people that speed on the road and go on the red light and if someone killed or rob a store, they can help find who did it. CCTV cameras are always watching you and you have no privacy and CCTV cameras are scary because it’s watching all your move and what you’re doing and sometimes CCTV cameras can be inaccurate because it’s a hit or a miss because when you’re speeding the cameras sometimes don’t catch, your license plate and when you run a red-light half of the time it gets your license plate so there good and bad. The good thing about CCTV’s is that public safety may be better because if there was CCTV everywhere less crimes would happen. People can’t rob, hares, kid nap and kill people and other stuff because if they did the person that did it would be caught and put into jail. Crime, vandalism and theft rate may be reduced because if they vandalize people can be caught so that vandalize trains or walls would stop because the CCTV can find how they look and where they live. Crime would decrease because. If someone was to rob a store at. 3:00 AM or at night. If there were CCTV cameras, they could get away with it. But with the cameras the cameras can catch who did it and see what time they did it and find where they are and catch them and put them into jail and the same thing for theft. The CCTV cameras can easily catch. Where did the theft happen, and the cameras can see who it was and catch them like the Crimes. CCTV can help law enforcement catch criminals because if there was a crime during the day or night, the CCTV cameras can catch what happened and it can scan the face and it can find the person who did it and track them down and swat them L bozo man thought he could go away with it. The bad things about CCTV cameras are Purchasing and installing the cameras are expensive. The CCTV camera is about 150-450$ and to install is 125-400$ and that’s just for 1 camera and if the city needs to be safe, there needs to be a lot of CCTV cameras. CCTV cameras can be easily abused because if someone rods a store the robber can put on a mask and the camera can’t see who it is. If you speed or run a red light, you sometimes do not get caught and be because the cameras are not 100% accurate. If you what to steal or do drugs or some things, you can go in the blind spot and not get caught. There are so many ways you can abuse CCTV cameras. CCTV cameras have legal and privacy issues because CCTV cameras look at all the things you do and watch all your moves, and someone can hack into the cameras and spy on you, and you won’t even know it’s happening. So this is what I think about CCTV cameras.

    BY: Jaden

  6. jessica62 says:

    CCTV camera are, in my opinion, a big nay. Yes, yes. I get that safety comes first and it might help the police or government find criminals, can control daily activities and have evidence for cases. However, CCTV camera are very expensive, do not give us privacy, can be hacked, and they aren’t able to always catch the criminals. One CCTV camera costs around $830 and the high-end ones can cost up to $1,620. Vancouver has around 675,218 people, and if we had one camera for every ten people, the cost of all the CCTV cameras would be around $56,043,094. That is way to much money. Also, CCTV are intruding into our privacy. at workplaces any people often complain about their privacy being monitored constantly, and many families complain about not having privacy because of the cameras being watched by roadside public cameras. This is one of the biggest downsides of CCTV cameras. CCTV cameras can be hacked and used in the cameras to aid them of further crimes. The camera is not a full-fledged protection provider. The cameras are not as efficient as we thought they are. they can miss details. Also even if they did catch some crime, it couldn’t possibly stop the crime from happening. it can only provide evidence. no matter where you put the camera, there can still be crimes happening. So, in conclusion, I believe that CCTV cameras are not efficient and are not necessary in vancouver.

  7. mateo4 says:

    I think that we should have CCTV cameras (closed circuit television) these are used for people going fast while driving on a road, or it can catch people kidnapping another person. If we didn’t have these cameras in the world, all of the crime scenes would just be left out, and no one will know what happened, or what’s going on with crimes. Crimes can be solved better with these cameras. If someone steals something from a store, the camera would catch the footage of the person on video surveillance, so crimes can be caught easily with cameras. When crimes are caught, they are notified to the police ASAP. Or, if a person tries to break in to a mall or a store, that is very very bad, (don’t ever do that). And what are 3 reasons why, well, the 3 reasons why are…

    1. To see how much traffic there is

    2. Watch people at home

    3. To see if there’s any illegal actives going on

    I think that the world should have more CCTV cameras, because there is so much going on in British Columbia, especially Vancouver, I see the news describing stuff about crimes and robberies, almost everyday this happens. People are tired of hearing and seeing crimes happen nowadays, which is why people need to stop breaking into stores and malls. CCTV cameras cost about $100 for one camera, this is why cameras even break sometimes. For example, say you’re going into Metrotown mall and kidnap someone in front of a camera, that footage will be saved and reported to the news. This is very inappropriate, so don’t even think about doing this at all. We don’t need to use it for everything, only for crimes, traffic, and kidnapping. They are useful for these types of stuff, which is a good thing, but at the same time, we need to think about all of the stuff that’s happening now, ignoring them, make it much more worse.

  8. deja2 says:

    Councillor Melissa De Genova, has recently brought up that we should be installing CCTV cameras in Canada, but take a second to think about it. Yes it would be good to have them because then we would be able to catch more crimes and be able to figure out more information about investigations but at the same time it could be invading someone’s privacy, someone could be speeding and the camera could have not worked and taken a photo, also on the downside, having to install these cameras all over the city would be a hassle and a waste of time and money. I agree with both sides, it would be extremely efficient to be able to catch crimes but then at the same time the efficiency of the photo may not be good, so if you were to ask me what side I’m on. I would say both. Many people and myself wonder, how much would it take to install a CCTV camera? Well, an average installation will cost about $1,500, really depending on the quality of the camera. Now if only one installation costs about $1,500, someone would really be losing a lot of money that day! CCTV cameras can easily be hacked or even shot down by a robber or maybe even a cop that just can shoot his gun well enough, that also goes for robberies. If that person was wearing a mask or a ski mask you wouldn’t be able to tell who it is.

  9. lorenzo11 says:

    In my opinion I think that CCTV can be a good thing or a bad thing .First, cameras are very useful in dangerous places to protect people. On the other hand, they have a negative side as well, I mean like nothing is perfect you know. People need privacy and they don’t wanna be supervised all the time. So, I don’t know what side to go for but now lets think about Canada. Canada is a country that people talk very well about, but they don’t know everything so I think I am going with the positive side. As I said people talk very well about here but you never know what is coming. Big cities like Vancouver are becoming less safe then before, and the crimes is growing. So I think its a good idea of bringing cameras to here, well they need a lot of money to buy these cameras but I think they probably have enough.
    I don’t want them to abuse of this beautiful city and put cameras all over the places. They can put these cameras here but not to much, only in the busiest and dangerous places , because of our privacy, comfort, etc.
    Some examples of were we should have cameras are the sky train station, the bus station, the parks, some specific houses or roads, etc. These places are all dangerous with strangers, people who throw cigarette in the ground and putting cameras people can feel protection. For instance this can prevent attacks and theft in public spaces.
    Regarding to the negative effects, people could feel intimidated being observed all the time. Some people don’t like to expose themselves to others. But in a different way some people can be bad and need to be supervised.
    To conclude, we can see this improvement in security trough two points of view. The positive side protecting people, and the negative side invading people’s privacy. Both sides are important and the improvement in cameras needs to have a balance to be accepted by everyone.

  10. vadym1 says:

    I want to start off by saying, I’ve always been in quite a neutral position in regard to civilian surveillance. It’s kind of like asking me, “what’s the best type of carpet?” – to which I would not reply simply because I don’t care. But my perspective has changed, especially as of recent when Melissa De Genova brought up CCTV in Vancouver.

    My general idea of CCTV is that I really have no problem with it. We’ve seen things happen in the US with people like Jussie Smollett staging hate crimes with themselves as the victim to gain clout. Side note: Smollett didn’t stage the hate crime in public, so CCTV would not have helped. The concept of CCTV is simple, you have cameras monitoring civilians in public, and if something were to occur, the footage can be used as evidence. Time has proven that video is an exceptional form of evidence compared to using witnesses and other things alike. So, this means that CCTV is necessary, and we should use it, right? Well, no.

    The main argument for not using CCTV is that it is an invasion of privacy because these cameras are monitoring everyone 24/7. I believe this argument is about as bad as saying that Joe Biden is still human, because it’s a complete load of Dollarama nonsense. CCTV is funded by the city, meaning it can only be placed in public places such as streets. By this definition, places of public transport like the sky train, ferry, and bus will not be subject to this, as they are privately owned by TransLink. Another argument made is that it costs money to set up so many cameras, and where is the money coming from? That’s right, the citizens. According to riversideca.gov, the city budget comes from taxes, fees, fines, licenses (of all sorts), and inter-governmental revenues. If someone says they’re neutral on this, they’re only going to stay that way as long as they’re not paying for it. Upon being told that they’re going to be the ones covering the costs of the cameras and the installation process, those “neutrals” will quickly oppose this, and that’s exactly where I stand on this right now. The final point that I would like to make against these cameras is that their effectiveness is not guaranteed. While there certainly are benefits to using surveillance cameras in public, it’s not as significant. In this day and age, people can record things with their cellphone if evidence is needed. In a completely different scenario where there are no people to record the crime taking place, there is the cameras, or is there? Well, as dumb and simple as it may sound, the robber could easily put on a mask and commit the crime, mess around with the camera, or tape up the lens with something. The only reasonable solution to something like this would be to install EVEN MORE cameras to catch the people doings this, meaning EVEN MORE city budget spent on CCTV. If you’re going to install just one camera, you’re obligated to go all the way and install one to monitor that camera, and another and another and another and just so on. To top it all off, the crime rate over the years has been slowly decreasing, with a few spikes here and there. Still a lot better than what it was a few years ago which was a consistent high instead of a low with some inconsistent spikes. For these reasons, I believe that due to the very scarce benefits, the decreasing crime rate in Vancouver, and costs involved in installing them, I too oppose this motion of installing CCTV cameras.

  11. alena2 says:

    Hello, fellow humans. A lot of people have different opinions on security measures. Today, I am going to be talking about CCTV cameras. There are a lot of pros and cons for having them. Some of the pros are that public safety can be improved, criminal activity can be stopped, and it can help the government/law enforcement catch criminals/suspicious people. Some of the cons are that the cameras cost a lot of money to install and operate. The cameras can also be easily vandalized, so their efficiency isn’t guaranteed. The legal rights are also a problem. In my honest opinion, the pros overweigh the cons. Even though the CCTV cameras’ efficiency isn’t guaranteed, they can still help in most cases.
    CCTV cameras have a few uses. Some of them are protecting people out in the streets, helping people stop vandalism, kidnapping, abuse, etc. Also, one of the big uses for CCTV cameras is spotting anti – social behaviors. Some cameras can take photos of car license plates when the person driving brakes the rules.
    Even though, the CCTV cameras aren’t guaranteed to help people fight crime, or to take a picture of a license plate of a driver’s car, I think that CCTV cameras can still help. At least there is still a chance that they will. It’s just better to be safe than sorry, you know. Having CCTV cameras around the city can improve people’s safety, which is a great thing. Even though, CCTV cameras aren’t necessary, having them installed can make people feel safer out in the streets. I know you might disagree with me, but in my opinion CCTV cameras should be installed in more places. I hope you have a good day, bye <3

  12. monica8 says:

    CCTV cameras are a useful source to catch criminals and improve public safety. Yet even though you could try preventing crimes from happening there are those who are not afraid either way. Cameras can let customers and employees feel safe, yet these cameras do not stop crime from happening. Even if you end up catching the criminal, that does not mean that the crime never happened. Customers and employees will still feel unsafe from the event. This shows that cameras are not reliable enough for public safety. Safety is a condition of protection from danger, risk, or injury. Thus, cameras do not provide the right amount of safety alone. CCTV cameras are vulnerable. People could assist the crime and disable the cameras. Cameras can be of low quality when zooming into people’s faces. When clearing the image up, the person’s face is not as accurate as you think. There are many ways to get around CCTV cameras, including blind spots. Including how certain conditions will damage electronics. Whether it is water or debris or even a cloth to cover the camera. CCTV cameras can breach privacy as well. Entering passwords or sending a business email that the writer feels uncomfortable with anyone else seeing. These cameras could make innocent people feel uncomfortable in situations. Seeing how many cameras some countries have, makes it feel almost impossible to be alone or at ease. It can cause problems with honesty and trust within homes and workplaces. Though it is logical to keep records of what happens in public, many people would feel uneasy at the thought of every move being watched and recorded. It is being saved in a file or an external recorder. The more commonly these cameras are used, the more people will be able to access, install, and use them. Meaning that if you can access the camera from your phone, many people would be able to hack the cameras. Cameras may be directly under the control of a security company. Nonetheless, when ordinary people use them and the cameras get hacked, this causes distrust in the security of a CCTV camera. Thus, why go through the struggle of trusting a device and believing what it is seen on the camera? Although Coun. Melissa De Genova made an emotional plea to the councillors, but they disagreed. Coun. Jean Swanson said “I don’t like the idea of living in a surveilled society. I don’t like the idea of CCTV cameras targeting criminalized people, which I know they do.” The idea of a society that is being monitored daily is not a pleasant idea. Many people, including De Genova’s colleagues, were not convinced about cameras reducing crime. Yet more about the invasion of personal privacy. Digital activism advocate Daniella Barreto had told CBC that the CCTV cameras would have an impact on democracy, too. “The more that citizens are aware of surveillance, the greater this impact on not wanting to participate in the public life and democracy.” Even if we ended up installing CCTV cameras, the cost would be huge.

  13. hana20 says:

    In think that there should be CCTV. I think that because what happens if there’s a Criminal running away, the CCTV can help find them. And CCTV will be helpful just like the example I said earlier. But I also sometime think that CCTV should not be here. Why? That’s because you might need some privacy from CCTV. That something the CCTV shouldn’t see. Or it might be embarrassing. But I mostly think that there should be CCTV. Because people need to know what bad things that people did so they can get caught and I know… maybe go to jail or get a warning? I didn’t know that CCTV was popular. But now I why. It’s to keep everyone safe from danger and stuff like that. I kind of like CCTV. And kind of not. That is because of the reason form above. I am grateful for the technology that lets us have things like CCTV, so we see the world around us. I didn’t know that there was so much CCTV. There are at least 770 million cameras. Which is so much than most people think/thought.

  14. lawrence7 says:

    Let me ask u a question, CCTV cameras can help by improving public safety, can reduce crime, vandalism rate, but it can also be a hospitable ton of money to spend to buy and install the cameras in the city. Usually, I don’t think that they should be allowed because there are so many cons to this. First, the cameras are low quality, and they are expensive (cost like $2000 for each camera). A traditional security camera system provides excellent support to the security of any home or business but can entirely be expensive. The implementation of security cameras typically requires running cables, as referenced in a past post, and includes extensive labor and multiple products to implement successfully. While that does not necessarily apply to smaller systems and wireless cameras, initial installation typically brings with it a heftier price tag. Also, it can be vulnerable to hackers. Which will be useless afterwards and thrown away. Yes, they can provide a sense of protection, but it is an invasion of privacy. While security cameras can be watchful for threats, illegal behavior, or aggressive behavior, surveillance will also inevitably record everything in their vision. For example, if there were cameras in a place where it shouldn’t be like a change room, the camera would witness the entire process. Do you think that you would like that? No. Going back to the crime and vandalism part, the cameras aren’t as sufficient as you might think. Did you know that video loss over the cameras is quite common sometimes? In general, the issue of “video loss” ” on CCTV security cameras or DVR/NVR, in many cases, comes down to several factors: insufficient power supply, unstable network, wiring problems, hardware (cameras, NVR/DVR or monitor) failures, inefficient camera software and IP address conflicts and so on. It is really annoying having to replace the wiring and the other conflicts that occur. As shown, there is quite a bit to consider when discussing security cameras and the factors that play in considering them. As it stands now, around twenty percent of American residents feature them in or around their households. I personally don’t really care but if someone asks me this question, I will say no. And many businesses feature them throughout.

  15. luisa4 says:

    As of today, you can find nearly 800,000 CCTV cameras worldwide. Many countries have adopted these and used them as a way to prevent crime. Cameras are scattered throughout the streets, monitoring every activity. This can be a pretty useful tool for catching criminals and preventing crime, on the one hand. On the other hand, I don’t believe most people would feel comfortable with cameras recording their every move. Even though CCTV cameras help the police and make the world safer, they also violate the right to privacy.

    Since the 80s, CCTV cameras have been increasingly used throughout the world. Studies have shown its effectiveness, especially against crime. Apart from helping police officers and detectives identify criminals, the cameras also make people feel in a safe environment. They are also a form of evidence in a legal scenario. However, some crimes may also be planned out. A criminal might come up with a plan to cover up the camera, ending with their purpose. Besides, the existence of the CCTV cameras technically infringes the human right to privacy. Personally, I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing that my every step is being documented. The thought of a camera recording me and everything I do is a bit scary in my opinion. They are also very expensive. In some places, it might not be worth it to spend money on the CCTV cameras, to maybe prioritize other things, such as services like hospitals, schools, and more.

    CCTV cameras have their pros and cons, just like everything else in life. I honestly don’t know what my opinion on them is, because I think the pros and cons balance each other out. It’s a very interesting topic to discuss and this is my thought on it. Thanks for reading!

  16. mattias12 says:

    I think that we should have CCTV cameras. In my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. With the pros. For crimes committed where video surveillance is present, the chance of catching criminals is much higher. With advanced technology like facial recognition, security cameras may be able to better identify criminals, helping authorities to track them down. Also, these images and information may be shared with the public to help spread the word. It may be difficult to obtain eyewitness accounts, but with security cameras, you often have video evidence of the events that transpired. Along the same lines, surveillance footage can be used as evidence in the courtroom. On the other hand, video footage may also help to prove a person’s innocence. Either way, recordings of public areas can help provide clues to solve crimes and may even provide solid evidence for criminal cases. According to statistics, after security cameras are installed, crime rates drop. For example, crime rates in a park dropped 20% after video surveillance was implemented. As previously mentioned, the presence of security cameras act as a deterrent as criminals do not want to risk getting caught on camera. Just like surveillance on our private property improves our home security, surveillance in public areas increases public safety. Public surveillance can aid in keeping you safe when you are out and about. Public security cameras can keep an eye out for crimes as well as act as a deterrent. For example, if suspicious individuals are seen in an area, authorities may be able to get ahead of the situation and possibly move innocent bystanders out of harm’s way. Now with the cons, Unfortunately, this helpful technology can be easily abused. For example, information collected from public cameras can potentially be used as a form of blackmail. Another example is voyeurism and stalking. To combat these issues, strict regulations on public surveillance must be put into place. In addition, many people doubt the effectiveness of public surveillance. While statistics may show that crimes and incident rates have decreased, security cameras are not as effective when it comes to horrific acts such as terrorism. The cost of public security cameras is another issue. Since many doubt the effectiveness, they feel that public surveillance systems are a waste of money. They argue that high maintenance and costs of these systems is not justified by their limited results. As you can see, both sides have valid arguments But, for the most part, public surveillance will work for our benefit.

  17. damian4 says:

    Imagine this being watched by the government with no privacy but with lots of security. I think of both because there are many pros and cons to have CCTV cameras for example it would help law enforcement catch criminals faster but it would cost a lot to install the cameras. I’m not saying we should have cameras but it doesn’t means we can’t install a couple in places where a lot of people go to. There are many pros like better security, more help for the police and reckless driving may be decreased. However there are many cons like being expensive to install CCTV cameras. The reason why I’m in the middle is because many of the pros and cons are debatable. CCTV cameras are seen throughout the world but they are being used properly and being misused like spying on people, hacking and invading people’s privacy. There are about 1 million cameras that can be easily hacked or misused, but they bring security and help reduce crime. I personally think its better to have some cameras in the city and more dark places whereas being placed randomly by some criminal. I think there should 5-6 cameras per block. What’s crazier is that other countries have hundreds of thousands of cameras and the government is okay with that. Cameras can cause trust issues to break like putting them all over the place and no one is talking to you because they are scared their privacy could be leaked. Cameras are good for security but are they good for civilian use? No they are not, because the cameras could be used against police and the government. I agree about having cameras in a couple places but everywhere people could get traumatized because they see some weird thing staring at them. Apart from being useful for law enforcement and security nothing else really but there are more pros they just aren’t used a lot like vandalism which is rare. Overall I think it depends on what the CCTV camera is being used for.

  18. jason57 says:

    CCTV camera,

    CCTV cameras are everywhere where we go. CCTV cameras should be allowed to be placed in public areas and other places because if you do not have CCTV cameras in like not public but like narrow sidewalks or streets where it is a higher chance of getting murdered, robbed or even assaults in those places so and a lot of those getting murdered, robbed, and getting assaulted that we see in the tv happened in those places where not a lot of people go, people play and where people live. Can you imagine not living without CCTV cameras?? I cannot imagine because these days it is different from old ages. My mom always tells me these days you must be careful because in these days people get more violent and people murder people more, rob more and kidnap people a lot more. My mom also said if you see in the news these days people murder people more violently and torcher people more violently these days, so my mom told me to be careful every day before my mom went to work. I also think that camera should be not allowed in the public places because they are too expensive to place all around the public and secret places for other people because if we place cameras all around places it will cost so much money that it will almost cost more than 10billin dollars in total. I also think that if you have cameras in like private places for other people the cameras are destroying the privacy of other people. The main reason why I think it’s bad to place cameras everywhere is because if we still put up cameras criminal stuff like robbery, murdering, assaults and many other things that count as a crime will still happen on unknown places or where people don’t go often or streets or paths people don’t walk or play so that’s a waste of money and the cost of 1camera is over 300 or 450 dollars’ worth for your house CCTV but for streets and paths CCTV it costs over 1000 to 2000 dollars because the CCTV for houses they don’t have that much battery and it doesn’t last long because its only watching the house like living rooms and bedrooms to see what your children do or see if robbers come to your house and rob something. The street cameras has to be way better than the house cameras because the street cameras have to move around to see all around places and cheap cameras you have to move it by yourself but street cameras has to watch everywhere 24-7 so people can’t like move it around 24-7 they have to eat, sleep and when you watch the camera for too long your eyes will hurt so that’s why the government has to buy expensive ones for it to move by itself and there are over 20000 cameras in one city if the CCTV thing goes passes so the cost of the camera will be over 10billion dollars (about $31 per person in the US) for one city. But most of all I think that CCTV should be put everywhere around the city so that it will reduce crime.

  19. andrew48 says:

    I don’t have much of an opinion on whether or not they install CCTV cameras in Canada since there are a lot of ups and downs in having them. For good things, they would show when someone is speeding, running red lights, accidents, show then day, time, where, and who is involved in any crimes. Although they do record your private life while out in public, it helps with investigating and does protect us by looking out for dangers. But these cameras can only be used in public spaces, so it doesn’t interfere with your daily life and privacy too much. The cameras can help to reduce crime rates since people would know that there are cameras watching them so they wouldn’t try to risk being caught by police. They would also help to catch criminals since they would show up on the monitors when they watch the video while investigating something. While police or detectives are investigating stuff, there would be a higher chance of finding something related to what they’re looking for, so the cameras may be able to supply evidence and clues for them. Research shows that CCTV systems show that the footage is classified as useful in 62.2% of robberies. But there are also doubts concerning their effectiveness. That’s because there is a chance that the camera positioning is off so then there would be gaps where there is no video footage of or that the cameras may have timed out or been hacked for some reason, so they didn’t work. Not only that, but the public surveillance cameras are said to be expensive. The abuse in usage of the surveillance system is said to be quite common. Examples of this are the misuse of gathered information may end up being used as blackmail. Another common one is spying on people for some reason. There is also a lack of control and limits on public camera use. The effectiveness of the cameras has not yet been completely proven. Because of the threats of terrorist attacks, in some places, cameras are encouraged to be placed around there. But, small chance that a suicide bomber is going to be affected just because of a few cameras watching. Cameras have a high cost, mostly in regards towards repairs and replacements. That is especially when they can violate personal rights as well as the fact that they’re not effective enough to deter crimes and theft. Those are some pros and cons toward CCTV surveillance cameras being in place.

  20. justin94 says:

    Should CCTV be allowed? Well, there is a lot of benefits towards having CCTV in the city. But at the same time, it should not be allowed sometimes because of the invasion of privacy. For me, I feel like CCTV should be allowed because without any security cameras, society would be a mess without any patrols, and it would be total chaos. But there is a catch, one CCTV costs about $500. That is half of some people’s paychecks. And you know where the money is coming from? US! The taxes we pay are going to the cameras, roads, jobs, unemployed people, and school foundations. The average person pays around $2000 of taxes each year. So the cameras and CCTV budget and cost is coming from us fellow citizens. But then, we are basically paying for our security. But think about this, why do we need security cameras? Protection! But then what do we protect? Our property and Canada is a country where you protect your own things. Your house and your car are considered as your property so it is your responsibility to protect your own stuff. So once again are the security cameras necessary in this scenario? Let’s change to another situation. Let’s say you were walking down the streets in the dark alley and then some group of jerks decided to rob you, usually these crooks have a plan, and the security cameras can be easily detected, and it can be hacked with just a few steps. So are the cameras really doing something? CCTV are really easy to get hacked by and people doesn’t even notice it. Another cons of the cameras is invasion of privacy. You see in mainland China, there are thousands of cameras in just a few blocks. Why you asked? Well the president of China Xi Jing Ping thinks that apparently, they need to “check” if people are talking trash about them. So they have this high technology camera where it can scan your face and immediately find out all the info about you. That includes your criminal record, certificate of which university and even your family’s info. Seems cool right? BUT NO. You see in these cameras; they have installed this recorder where in most public areas they are recording everything you are saying. So if they heard something bad, they would find your ip information and go arrest you for some dumb reasons. In 2019, there are about 200 million cameras around China. Some people were executed for “reasons”. Freedom of speech isn’t a thing in China and even my mom was brought into a police station for saying something. This is “invasion of privacy” and people in countries like China and North Korea doesn’t have this. So in my opinion, the cons have way more than the pros. CCTV is helpful but then it’s too expensive, invasion of privacy, and sometimes there’s no use of CCTV since you can either hack the Camera or just block it with your hand. But then think of the profits from CCTV, it can catch people if they are speeding or if they are on the lose. But again think about this, everyday there are 2 cameras watching you walking pass by. Do you feel safe? Some people thinks it is since if something happens to they can catch the crime. But then the government is literally watching you everyday! So is it helpful or not? I think it is not.

  21. april7 says:

    I personally believe that in this matter, the pros ultimately outweigh the cons. So, I think that CCTV cameras are something that could genuinely be useful to improving the safety of Vancouver. While they aren’t completely reliable, CCTV cameras have been proven on multiple occasions to beneficial when it comes to crime and other things. The main purpose of having CCTV cameras in the first place is to be able to monitor and watch everything that occurs in that one specific area. While it is arguable, I believe that this is a good thing for the most part, as it helps authorities catch criminals and monitor the places where those crimes could have happened. It can provide crucial pieces of evidence against criminals running loose. To add on, these cameras can be useful to workplaces as well. It has actually been scientifically proven that office cameras boost productivity, as they allow the boss to actively observe the performance of their employees. Leading back to being helpful when catching criminals, if CCTV cameras were implemented, you’d always have records of the things that the camera captured. Whether that’d be trying to get footage of suspicious activity, or just wanting to know when your mail arrived, having access to CCTV records is a very useful resource to have. CCTV cameras have also been proven to genuinely decrease crime rates. Why? Well, by allowing authorities and police to solve cases easier. In addition, since many criminals are aware of CCTV cameras and how their actions could be recorded, they’re a lot more wary now.

    Of course, these cameras aren’t without their downsides. There are many people who argue that these cameras are invasive and a breach of privacy. While I don’t completely disagree with them, I think that ultimately, it is more beneficial than it is not. However, there is one exception, as unless there was consent, I think that having these cameras in a home would be considered a serious breach of trust and privacy. This is because in the public, it isn’t really considered a private space, but while you are at home, these cameras are watching you while you are in a personal and private space. Which in my opinion, does seem quite wrong. While useful, CCTV cameras aren’t always reliable. Often times, they can miss important details, and with the right skills, they are fairly easy to hack into. Since a lot of money and resources are pooled into these cameras, it’s understandable why some people see these as a waste. Personally though, as previously stated, I think in this situation, the pros outweigh the cons. While proven to be effective in stopping crime, CCTV cameras are still just cameras. They can’t do much about the actual crime. They cannot alert the authorities, they cannot stop it, they technically cannot do anything. However, I’d argue that these cameras are still useful and good to have around. Even if they can’t notify authorities, they still provide evidence of the crime. It’s better than having no evidence or idea that the crime even happened at all. To conclude, I believe that while these cameras certainly have their downsides and cons, I think that the pros and the usefulness of them exceed those complications. I think that CCTV cameras would be a useful and beneficial addition to the city of Vancouver.

  22. nathan86 says:

    I think I would rather have CCTVsurveillance system than not having for multiple reasons as to why CCTV.CCTV been around for years now thousands of cctv surveillance cameras are all over the world especially famous or most populated places in. Which they’re are think of having CTTV surveillance in Vancouver city and. I think that the main thing that CTTV would reduce the risk of danger or injuries and make feel people protected . And have more evidence for cops example .Someone drove Their a car through red or if someone has a weapon on them and cops would need to locate him and CCTV cameras or someone is stealing a valuable CCTV would give them a bigger chance of finding him . There’s many more situations Like these that CCTV cameras can help in I think that is good.Though some or more people will get upset because of less privacy and CCTVeven be damage and broken up .By people ,natural causes ,animals , malfunction and etc . And you really don’t want because CCTV can be expensive and inducting it to a position .Because there’s no point in a CCTV cameras
    If it can be easy to notice .Although that’s it seem bad to have CCTV cameras those disadvantage can be counter. They still improve safety and help save lives then why it is right now . Let me give a reason how also it can save money for people so example gas is so high in money so from CCTV tracking down the bad people it saves gasoline. For me in my opinion I had lots of time I heard that places or structures have been damaged and hearing police chasing bad people’s car .Every years and some of them weren’t even caught still and sometimes the places or structures damage every where I go.And sometimes there would be cameras that would be looking like it was going fall and very rusted but .It was not CCTV cameras but just really low quality cameras that wouldn’t even work sometimes and .If they did it would be so Hard to tell the things in the rooms were. And for me I would want to have a decent surveillance for protection if anything bad happened to me or someone else . And this brings me to my last reason why we should have CCTV.Because it something bad is coming to you or there a usual sound that you are not aware of the CCTV will notified you. Well those are my reasons why we should have CCTV cameras like already Vancouver is is peaceful but you can never be to safe.And the only thing that bothers me is that fact it runs on electricity so if there was a powder outage most CCTV cameras will stop working. Which is fine like it’s not like other cameras don’t use electricity .But still CCTV cameras are still useful so it’s a yay for me.

  23. julia65 says:

    CCTV can be good but bad and I think they have their pros and cons and I am going to tell you abou it. CCTV pros. CCTV can be really nice because it can catch robbers and vandalism they can also catch everything happening in one place.It’s good when the CCTV’s record everything in one place because with the cameras they can catch robbers and vandalism. CCTV cons. CCTV can be bad because they don’t always catch everything also they are really expensive and they watch everything that you did in you day. A lot of people Already racked the cameras so they could see what you were doing. Vancouver has been trying to get CCTV for the city but they already got rejected two times. I wouldn’t want to have CCTV cameras in my city because I think that doesn’t makes me any more safer but to other people it might. So at the end of this I really do not want CCTV cameras in Vancouver, because if you think if they get CCTV cameras you won’t have as much privacy anymore. I think that because in certain places you will have a camera watch every single thing that your do and that kind of freaks me out.

  24. haadiya1 says:

    CCTV was originally a security system, but nowadays people find them invasive and ineffective. The average person is caught on a CCTV about 300 times a day. Experts believe that CCTVs will stop burglaries but even after London got CCTV cameras it had no effect on the burglaries. The problem with CCTV is that there is no way to catch the burglar they can only watch the footage after the fact, and unlike security alarms, they don’t inform the police or neighbours at all. Aside from burglaries these cameras are very dangerous for our environment. Digital cameras are hard to break down and will most likely end up at the landfill site. When the cameras are disposed of there is a high chance that they will leach harmful chemicals, lead, and mercury into our waterway. This is contributing to pollution and because of the amount of CCTV cameras there are when they eventually break, all 770 million will end up in the dump. So many gadgets are meant to help but at the end of the day, most of them end up in the trash and pollute the earth. The UK so far has the most amount of CCTV cameras, around 5.2 million cameras and in Britain, there is about 1 camera for 13 people. These cameras are also very pricey and although the price has dropped the government has put a lot of money into the CCTV cameras which are now proving that they don’t have a massive positive impact. The cameras are expensive and installing them is even more expensive. Around $1,326, or between $615 and $2,042 for the camera and the installation. Privacy has been an issue since 1942 when CCTVs came out. people are startled by the fact that their every move is being watched by a camera CCTV camera record just about everything. I think that CCTVs are not very helpful and just end up wasting money as well as making people feel like they are being watched in their homes. personally, I don’t think that CCTVs are great for this environment or our safety.

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