HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Oxford Indymedia

CCTV Planned for East Oxford Community Centre?

Kate | 13.05.2009 22:42 | Free Spaces | Technology | Oxford

Help reverse community centre CCTV decision.

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).

----------------------------------------------

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

Apparently there's a committee meeting next Monday, at 6:30pm, in EOCC, at which CCTV will almost certainly be discussed..

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.

-


No CCTV's email to the EOCC Managament Committee

15.05.2009 12:15

CCTV in the community centre would add further to the denial of any right to privacy and the death of the right to private association Installation of CCTV cameras would surely be a case of a community centre acting against the wishes of the community.

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 ( http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/blog/cctv_in_schools_update.htm), as the same issues would apply to a community centre.

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  http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/caseagainst/london_cameras_versus_clearup.asp), even the government's own National CCTV Strategy points out that about 80% of CCTV images are not good enough to be used in court (see  http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/caseagainst/reports.asp for more details).

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  http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/campaigns/docs/No-CCTV_Interim_report-Cowley_Road_v1_2.pdf). East Oxford Community centre is a place where many diverse campaign groups meet to organise and plan events. Such campaigning is an expression of their democratic right to protest. CCTV cameras in the community centre could be used to undermine this right. No CCTV has in the past used the OARC space but should CCTV be installed we would not want anything to do with the community centre. Many other groups may do likewise.

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
--
www.no-cctv.org.uk

No CCTV
- Homepage: http://www.no-cctv.org.uk


Publish your news
-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Oxford Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech