CCTV Planned for East Oxford Community Centre?
Kate | 13.05.2009 22:42 | Free Spaces | Technology | Oxford
It has recently emerged that there are plans to install CCTV cameras in the East Oxford Community Centre (EOCC). This will make the centre less community-friendly and inclusive, creating an atmosphere of mistrust and opening up the possibility that the authorities may at some point demand access to the footage in order to monitor activist groups.
This decision has been taken by a small group – the Management Committee – without consulting the wider community of people who use the centre. Please write to them ASAP and let them know what you think of the plan; if enough people get in touch they may be forced to reconsider.
Simply copy and paste the email below and sign your name, or write your own if possible. The emails are at the bottom of this message and can be sent as a block.
(One alternative would be for a rota of volunteers to staff a reception desk of some sort; even if it weren't continuously staffed, it would still go some way to solving the problem. Please mention in your email if you would be prepared to volunteer in such a scheme).
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Dear Sir/Madam,
It has come to my attention that the East Oxford Community Association are proposing to install CCTV cameras at the Community Centre. I understand this is motivated by a desire to protect the building from break-ins and to increase the personal safety of staff. Although break-ins have occurred, fears of potential assaults on staff are as of yet unfounded, as far as I am aware.
It is outrageous that such a major decision to infringe the privacy of the centre's users has not been put forward to that community.
Furthermore, there seems no need to resort to so extreme a measure when alternative avenues - such as securing valuables to prevent burglary - have not been explored.
The feeling seems to be that CCTV is needed at the community centre because 'anyone on Cowley Road can just walk in'. But this openness is part of the beauty of the EOCC. Although it can cause problems, we need to find ways of dealing with them that make EOCC more accessible and welcoming to the local community, not less.
Although some may perceive a gain of 'added security', it is important to consider what will be lost if CCTV is installed at the community centre; a shared communal space where individuals are trusted enough to have their privacy respected.
Installing CCTV would be reinforcing the idea that members of the community should fear each other, and would cultivate a climate of suspicion - which is precisely the opposite of what a community centre should to do. The alienating effect and level of opposition to such a proposal, if it does indeed go ahead, should not be underestimated.
A number of the user groups are grassroots community initiatives, fundamentally opposed to such authoritarian measures. Should the principle be approved, the installation of CCTV would be a betrayal to many of those who have worked hard to make the EOCC a thriving and positive community space.
Yours Sincerely,
***X***
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Emails of the committee (and the administrator):
benbeaumont888@hotmail.com, ziyenge@googlemail.com, darkchap@yahoo.com, sally@aidsconsortium.org.uk, jo.kwabla@infinis.com, sarahllasenby@googlemail.com, catherine@breathe-easy.myzen.co.uk, augustusmitchell@hotmail.com, owen@riseup.net, wasperjohn@yahoo.co.uk, east_oxford_cc@yahoo.co.uk
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This decision has been taken by a small group – the Management Committee – without consulting the wider community of people who use the centre. Please write to them ASAP and let them know what you think of the plan; if enough people get in touch they may be forced to reconsider.
Simply copy and paste the email below and sign your name, or write your own if possible. The emails are at the bottom of this message and can be sent as a block.
(One alternative would be for a rota of volunteers to staff a reception desk of some sort; even if it weren't continuously staffed, it would still go some way to solving the problem. Please mention in your email if you would be prepared to volunteer in such a scheme).
----------------------------------------------
Dear Sir/Madam,
It has come to my attention that the East Oxford Community Association are proposing to install CCTV cameras at the Community Centre. I understand this is motivated by a desire to protect the building from break-ins and to increase the personal safety of staff. Although break-ins have occurred, fears of potential assaults on staff are as of yet unfounded, as far as I am aware.
It is outrageous that such a major decision to infringe the privacy of the centre's users has not been put forward to that community.
Furthermore, there seems no need to resort to so extreme a measure when alternative avenues - such as securing valuables to prevent burglary - have not been explored.
The feeling seems to be that CCTV is needed at the community centre because 'anyone on Cowley Road can just walk in'. But this openness is part of the beauty of the EOCC. Although it can cause problems, we need to find ways of dealing with them that make EOCC more accessible and welcoming to the local community, not less.
Although some may perceive a gain of 'added security', it is important to consider what will be lost if CCTV is installed at the community centre; a shared communal space where individuals are trusted enough to have their privacy respected.
Installing CCTV would be reinforcing the idea that members of the community should fear each other, and would cultivate a climate of suspicion - which is precisely the opposite of what a community centre should to do. The alienating effect and level of opposition to such a proposal, if it does indeed go ahead, should not be underestimated.
A number of the user groups are grassroots community initiatives, fundamentally opposed to such authoritarian measures. Should the principle be approved, the installation of CCTV would be a betrayal to many of those who have worked hard to make the EOCC a thriving and positive community space.
Yours Sincerely,
***X***
----------------------------------------------
Emails of the committee (and the administrator):
benbeaumont888@hotmail.com, ziyenge@googlemail.com, darkchap@yahoo.com, sally@aidsconsortium.org.uk, jo.kwabla@infinis.com, sarahllasenby@googlemail.com, catherine@breathe-easy.myzen.co.uk, augustusmitchell@hotmail.com, owen@riseup.net, wasperjohn@yahoo.co.uk, east_oxford_cc@yahoo.co.uk ----------------------------------------------
Kate
Comments
Hide the following 2 comments
might be worth going to the meeting on Monday
14.05.2009 23:56
It would be useful if people with an opinion about the CCTV turned up at the meeting in person. Ordinary members are allowed to observe the meetings; in theory they don't automatically get to speak or take part in decision making but in practice if there's enough of us there they can't really ignore you.
So please come along if you can, and/or get your friends to!
If you're not already a member of EOCA, you might be able to join if you pop in and speak to the administrator during the day on Monday. If people don't manage to join before the meeting they may use it as an excuse to exclude them - again, stick to your guns if necessary and point out that as a member of the local community and/or user of EOCC you have every right to be there.
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No CCTV's email to the EOCC Managament Committee
15.05.2009 12:15
What is more, CCTV will not help with any of the issues that we understand the Management Committee have claimed (namely to prevent break-ins and increase the personal safety of staff).
There is a huge amount of evidence to show that it would be a useless waste of money. Even the surveillance industry agrees - see our blog story about CCTV in schools (
John J. Strauchs, Senior Principal of Strauchs LLC told Security Management magazine: "Schools are not the largest market by any means, but they are the most troubling. There is a virtual pandemic of schools installing video cameras willy-nilly [...] The lay public, unfortunately, doesn't understand the technology and ignorantly believes that the simple act of installing cameras stops crime. Cash-starved high schools, in particular, may be choosing video surveillance over higher teacher pay, text books, or after school programs for students. ... With very few exceptions, it is almost a useless tool to prevent serious crimes in most schools because they rarely, if ever, have the staff to effectively monitor the cameras."
Of course if you are going to have someone to monitor cameras 24 hours a day then why not just employ a caretaker!
Some may claim it would help with post crime detection but here too the evidence suggests otherwise (see
You may not be aware of plans in the National CCTV Strategy for police to gain access to private cameras, thus expanding state surveillance (see the No CCTV report for an analysis of the strategy
We urge you not to install surveillance cameras in the community centre. It would be a huge waste of money, an invasion of privacy and would undermine the very sense of community that the centre should represent. Better community reduces crime, technology does not.
No CCTV
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www.no-cctv.org.uk
No CCTV
Homepage:
http://www.no-cctv.org.uk