Big Brother Norwich
Feel safe yet?
Norwich city council has just spent over £500,000 upgrading CCTV in the city area. At the moment there are 66 CCTV cameras and “hotspots” will have more installed. Captured images are also said to be clearer than ever before. With this move City council wants to tackle “antisocial behaviour”. Well, drunk people will always cause problems because drunk people don't think about the consequences. Places will always be smashed as long as people are unsatisfied with their work, life, society etc. Graffiti will always be painted as long as people want to express themselves. Whatever other things City Council means with “antisocial behaviour” CCTV is not the solution. They only limit our privacy and create unnecessary paranoia that it is too dangerous to walk in the streets of Norwich .
Instead the streets should be taken back to the people. We should be able to enjoy our urban area without the City Council recording our every move. Also more music events and general outdoor happenings, where there would be free access to all the people, should be kept in the central area. On the other hand youth under 18 years old who want to come to the city centre at evenings and weekends should have indoor places where to spend time, for example youth centres where they could meet friends, play games etc. The city of Norwich belongs to the People not CCTV!
For your information: There's a No2id public meeting at Hellesdon
Community Centre Friday 23rd March at 7pm
Date Added: March 22nd 2007