A recent survey by Siemen’s Security Products division revealed a surprising result that 65% of those surveyed did not think that the usage of CCTV in the UK infringed civil liberties.

Residents in others countries such as in Spain 64% of people surveyed did believe the widespread usage of CCTV infringed civil rights but 89% people did agree with the statement that ‘CCTV cameras are useful in reducing crime and providing evidence to the Police’.

CCTV Camera Cuts

However this is against the backdrop of budget cuts for CCTV surveillance. icomply’s survey in 2012 showed that 1 in 5 councils have cut cameras on the street and 32% of control rooms surveyed had a reduced budget (link to ).
 

Expectations of CCTV

Hugh Barker MD, icomply commented “People’s attitude to CCTV in the UK seems to differ to that of other countries. People seem to be more accepting of CCTV in reducing crime. In the wake of the 7/7 and Boston bombings people perhaps feel more reassured by the use of CCTV.

With public sector cuts now coming through, we are seeing some control rooms with reduced budgets. We are working with our clients to see how we can help them use their budgets effectively. There’s a real trade off between budgets and security, which is getting tighter to control. Luckily our clients are benefiting from cost effective integrated control rooms”