Do you think camera on the street are to watch us or protect us ?

Question

do you think camera on the street are to watch us or protect us? give a reason

Answer 1

They are certainly not there to protect anyone. They don't prevent crimes, they just make it a little easier to figure out who did what to whom - well after the fact.

Answer 2

Cameras are there to "act" as a, for lack of a better term, electronic officer. When you run a red-light in your car, be prepared to get a ticket in the mail. However if your question is directed in the area of the government watching you, no.  There simply aren't enough employees of the government to watch these cameras.  They may record video, and if needed, retain the images from a certain point of time.  So the cameras are more on the side of keeping us safe, rather than spying on us.

Answer 3

Studies prove that the whole "watchful eyes deter crime" theory is bogus. Case-in-point: In London, there is one camera for every ten citizens. At any given day in London, a person can expect to appear on on 27 minutes (average) of DVR recording. The result... both non-violent and violent crimes in London have risen at the same rates (.4%/year) since the government began recording citizens in the early 1990's.

What does deter crime you might ask? Guns. The economist John Lott conducted a study in the United States between 1986 and 1997, revealing that the absolute most effective deterrant of violent crime are conceal and carry laws.

Following the virtual complete gun ban in the UK, great success was reported... The claim is that violent crime committed with firearms decreased by 76%. This is probably true, but what about violent crime NOT committed by firearms?... That rose 230%. What this means is that while criminals were not committing as much gun crime, they were committing more crimes using other methods. After the gun ban, England's overall violent crime rate decreased by only 1%. In the same timeframe however, the US violent crime rate (where there was no such gun ban) decreased by 3%.  

Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals over 2.4 million times every year -- or 6,575 times a day. This means that each year, firearms are used 60 times MORE OFTEN to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. - National Safety Council

20% of U.S. Violent Crime occurs in 4 cities: New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., & Detroit. These cities have near prohibition laws regarding handgun ownership.

1976- Washington, D.C. enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Effect: Murder has risen 134%while the national murder rate has dropped 2%

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New York City - Up 15% between 1998 and 1999. The SAME timeframe that new handgun restrictions came into effect.

In 1986, Florida Adopted the Right-To-Carry law, allowing citizens to carry firearms. The results from 1987-1996:

Homicide Rate: DECREASED 36%

Homicide by Firearm: DECREASED 37%

Homicide by Handgun: DECREASED 41%

Answer 4

It's there to protect, but more importantly they are indeed used for surveillance. Why? Because it's just the next step in the erosion of our rights.

Answer 5

The only people who believe that the cameras are there to spy on us are the people who are doing something wrong.

A bunch of people must have guilty consciences!

Answer 6

I think its Little of both..And I think its also a great way to keep a eye on the Police and have evidence when they abuse their rights.

Answer 7

Big brother is keeping us" Safe",diapers keep us safe & secure too !

Answer 8

Doesn't matter to me.  I have nothing to hide.

Answer 9

Despite the claim that they are there to deter crime and help locate wanted felons,they are there to watch you too.

Great Britain has more cameras per capita than any other country and the crime rate has continued to go up.

I have nothing to hide-I just don't like "Big Brother"watching me.

Besides,with all the photo editing software available,what's to keep someone from pasting your face into some crime photo?

Or how about your car pasted into a radar/camera photo running a red light or doing 50 in a 25 speed zone.

Answer 10

.  They already protected me.  I suppose they are there to watch us.

Answer 11

i think both, but mostly to protect us......personally it doesnt make me feel any safer, but if ever needed they have the footage!!  

Answer 12

They are there to protect us.  Why?  There are not enough cops to watch all the cameras all the time.  So they put the cameras up as a deterrent to crime.  The nice thing is that if a crime takes place, they can pull the video to find out who the suspect is, after the fact.

If they were there to watch us, they would make them less noticeable, and not tell us about them.  The technology is there to make them virtually invisible.