Village Corner: Video Surveillance in 21st Century

Story and Photos by Rich Didday

Capitola 2013

After we reported repeated thefts of objects from the porch of our creek-side house, the Capitola Police increased surveillance of the Creek path, and advised us to consider installing a video surveillance camera.

Beijing, March 2012

During a trip to China, I was surprised to discover how extensive and obvious video surveillance is in China. On Tiananmen Square, there is a huge grid of light poles about every 40 feet, and on each one are at least two movable cameras.

Capitola

We found a low-cost surveillance camera system that sends images via WiFi. The software lets you select sub-regions of the image where changes are detected, so if you don’t want to be notified each time someone walks by on the path, but not on your porch, you can do that.

Beijing

Without much effort, you can spot cameras in many places.

While you’re driving, you car’s picture is taken about every 10 miles, day and night. As you go through tunnels, a bright light flashes as they record each car’s license plate.

Shanghai, May 2012

I was told that the TV news sometimes shows running video of (for example) a purse snatcher from the initial incident, then fleeing down city streets, until apprehension several blocks away, with scenes from multiple video cameras being spliced to make a continuous sequence. They say the people feel secure knowing that officials are watching.

Capitola

Our video camera has infrared lights on it, and it automatically switches to night mode.

A friend at a late night party

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The images that our camera emails us are sent unencrypted, so are presumably being “acquired” by governmental agencies for possible future use in investigations. I’m not sure how that makes me feel.

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Rich Didday is a member of the CVRA. This essay expresses only his opinions.