Can Video Surveillance Protect Us from Terror - Essay Example

?Running head: VIDEO SURVEILLANCE Video Surveillance Introduction Society has evolved as a modernised community with people having certain attitudes towards the world, with increase in industries and economic institutions and with changes in mindset towards the country’s political aspects. Society has become more complex and more dynamic in its character, which in turn has direct effect on its people. Society is essentially defined as a self contained community with people who come together from various segments, share the same geography, share their cultures, and share social relations while maintaining their individualism. They have variable social structures within the society, which needs to be maintained well to ensure no disparity occurs, that can trigger off unsocial behaviour. It has today become pertinent that the society takes care of its people and ensures a safe and secure habitat for them. Society Today With the modernization and advancement of technology, society has undergone a dramatic change (Volti, 2005). It no longer is a domicile, safe and secure place for people. It is said that power brings with it tremendous responsibility, but we are not fulfilling our end of the responsibilities. Today there has been a change in the world due to much technological advancement, all achieved by humans towards the betterment of the society and standards of living .However, not all of the inventions and discoveries have had a positive impact on the world, the glaring examples would be nuclear weapons, satellites and modern weaponry. These have brought in a craze for power within the world leaders and no one wants to take a back step when it comes to flashing their ingenuity. The other major social problems faced globally are – unemployment, economical misbalance, lack of proper education, violence and drugs. Social issues like these cause an imbalance in the smooth functioning of the society as a whole. However, on a positive note, everyone in the society are seen to make conscious efforts to bring about changes and try to eradicate these issues at the earliest. Society and Security Tremendous technological advancement on one hand opened up a world of opportunities for individuals, businesses and even Governments, while on the other hand, ushered in the concern for safety and security in the society (Wood & Dupont, 2006). There are tools and techniques made available to disrupt the normal functioning of the society. Hence, it has been globally accepted that security plays an unprecedented role in the well being and upkeep of the society. Implementing good security systems takes time, money and individual discipline. Security today needs to be a collaborative effort by the industries, businesses, governments and individual citizens. Society exists at all due to the basic human requirement for security and safety. With modernization, the security aspect of society has grown complex and dynamic as well (Rusteikiene, 2008).Globalization and interdependence have to an extent affected the foundations of society, making it more vulnerable and security an integral part of the society. It is believed that security strategies should be made pliable rather than hardened rules and should be made such that society can absorb and respond to attacks rather than collapse on a whole. Aspects of Security The concept of security in layman terms would be providing protection and safety to human beings, infrastructures, businesses and anything that is of great value and importance. In most instances it has been observed that the actual security measures provided are far less effective than how it is perceived to be. For e.g. we have all modern equipments to detect earthquakes, however it has been observed that in most cases it occurs suddenly , where we are unable to prevent a natural calamity and its consequences. Today we can categorise security types to be of the following: Information Technology, monetary aspects, political sphere and all other public domains like the airports, hospitals, and schools. Each of these has unique security aspects that are implemented to protect them from damage, harm and loss of lives. The basic perceptions of security are: assuring people that they are taken care of, countermeasures made available for any threat, minimal risks involvement, and defence strategies in place, ready for implementation. Of all, the most important security aspect would be human security. Humans need protection against military, economic and environmental threats and society has to ensure that all its inhabitants are well protected against these. New Threat: Terrorism Security is considered to be breached when there are acts with the intention to harm the society or damage the social structures are carried out. Malicious acts of damaging property or mugging people or causing disruption to normal routines are all considered security breach or risk factors. Amongst these the most critical act today that is causing lot of harm to society globally is the act of terrorism. Terrorism can be broadly defined as “any action that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organisation to do or to abstain from doing any act.” (United Nations, 2005) Terrorism has become a global concern as it is being practised almost everywhere in the world, by few radical groups, under the pretext of some demands not being fulfilled or injustice done to them (Coombs, 2008). These groups of people consider themselves to be crusaders fighting for justice or the good of their people. They have incorporated the most terrifying methods of creating terror and horror amongst people like using explosive devices at random, hijacking, assassination of political leaders and using chemical and nuclear weapons. They have shaken the highest powers in the world today by causing large scale destruction and damage. They have targeted people of all races and nationalities indiscriminately as their prime motive is to intimidate people and spread fear all over. Every individual is today more cautious and vigilant of his surroundings and is more prepared to face terrorism. There are various strategies, practices and techniques being implemented by the government and the military to counter attack terrorism. It has become the onus of the society, the government and the individual citizen to try and combat these terrorists with the latest security tools and technology. Society needs to be extra vigilant to be able to counter such attacks and for that they need the latest surveillance or “watching over” aids. Society and Surveillance Surveillance has become an integral part of the society. Surveillance also means watching over or monitoring activities of people in a clandestine manner, so as to not to hurt anyone’s’ feelings or invade their privacy. It is essential today to be able to keep check on any irregular activities and in case such is observed, then immediate action can be taken. Various means of surveillance are through cameras (CCTV), through mobile phones, through the internet or just intelligence agents. The surveillance system has become very valuable to the government and law enforcing organisations as they can maintain social peace, monitor threats and prevent or act against any unsocial activity. Surveillance cameras or video cameras are used for observing activities in certain areas. They are usually installed at places frequented by people the most like malls, cinemas, stadiums, hospitals and even motorways to capture speeding vehicles. The video surveillance claims to be very effective when it comes to protection against terrorism but it is individual perspective as to how effective it is. Video surveillance was incorporated in early1960 mainly for bank security purpose (Russell, 2007). It evolved technically over time and today had the most high end technology like infra red imaging and motion detectors implemented in them to give us the most secured environment. The main disadvantage of video surveillance is the lack of generating immediate response towards some crime taking place, since it can only record and store data. It can be useful in cases where the culprits have been arrested and id check needs to happen, which can be facilitated through the data stored in the camera. Also photographs of culprits at large can be obtained from the recordings and circulated to public, who in turn can help arrest the culprit. The whole scene of crime is recorded and stored to be used as evidence against the offender. On a broader scale it is being used today to help identify terrorists and record any suspicious movements made by people at public places. However most feel that it is inefficient as it cannot stop the terrorist from carrying out his evil actions; it can only help identify the criminal at a later stage (Staples, 2007). Most of the people who have at some point of time been victims to terrorism agree that video surveillance does not really help in saving lives and preventing the terror attacks from taking place. While technically video cameras have evolved, the basic factor of having an alarm system connected to the nearest law enforcing office has been overlooked, thereby rendering the effectiveness of video surveillance as minimal. It can act as a good deterrent for petty crimes like mugging or burglary or speeding on the motorways or committing malicious acts like graffiti painting on public property. There has been constant dispute on the scalability of video surveillance as in to what extent it should be used and up to what level. It has been made a law that cameras should not intrude on anyone’s privacy and there should criteria’s on the capability of the cameras, such as long distance coverage may not be good as individual people may not be visible clearly. All these aspects clearly prove that video surveillance has its own limitations and thus may not be really effective in protecting us from terror attacks. It can contribute only to a certain extent against terrorists and terror attacks. Thus, we can conclude that like any other technology, video cameras must be used effectively and balanced well between cost efficiency and threats to society. It can cause discomfort to public in general if used without justifiable reasons while not being very effective in protecting us from terrorism. References Volti, R. (2005). Society and Technological Change. Worth Publishers. Wood, J. Dupont, B. (2006). Democracy, society and the governance of security. Cambridge University Press. Rusteikiene, J. (2008) Urban globalization: political, economical and socio-cultural changes. Retrieved from : http://scholararticles.net/article/2_35_45p_Rusteikiene Coombs, W.T. (2008). PSI Handbook of Business Security: Securing people and processes Praeger Security International Russell, M. (2007). Can Video Surveillance Help Protect You Retrieved from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Can-Video-Surveillance-Help-Protect-You?&id=510482 Staples, W.G. (2007). Encyclopaedia of Privacy: A-M. Greenwood Publishing Group. United Nations. (2005). In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/chap3.htm Read More