I remember a police officer once saying to me: "The last thing the police want is a police state". Whilst it's sometimes hard to believe, in general I think he's right. Sure, there are a few power-hungry individuals, especially at the top. But generally the constant calls from the police for more powers is simply a result of their perspective: they have a job to do and want to make it as easy for themselves as possible. That's understandable and a good reason why the police shouldn't automatically be given every power they ask for.

It's unfortunate that this perspective makes it very difficult for the police to argue in favour of the very civil liberties they should be protecting. Pragmatism usually gets in the way. So it's a pleasant surprise when a senior officer goes on record against the surveillance society.

Ian Readhead, the Deputy Chief Constable of Hampshire, has raised fears about the pernicious spread of CCTV, especially in small villages with low crime rates. The example he used was the village of Stockbridge in Hampshire which is on his beat.

Readhead told the BBC:

"I'm really concerned about what happens to the product of these cameras, and what comes next? "If it's in our villages, are we really moving towards an Orwellian situation where cameras are at every street corner? "And I really don't think that's the kind of country that I want to live in."

Readhead also went on to criticise other aspects of the surveillance state such as the indefinite retention of DNA taken from people who have never been charged with a crime.

When a senior police officer publicly uses words like "Orwellian" then we really do have something to worry about.

As Readhead asks: "Just how powerful do you want your police to be?"

CCTV privacy UK politics ukpolitics

Labels: CCTV, privacy