CCTV vs Crime

This blogger got it right.
http://polytikus.com/2008/03/02/lousy-campaign-promises/

Lousy campaign promises.

From The Sun (no link to their story yesterday unfortunate cos their website on has paper from Mon to Fri) whereby Carol Chew Chee Lin, Barisan Nasional candidate in Seputeh parliamentary seat said:

“I don’t intend to just talk the walk but also walk the talk.”

Really? No shit, sherlock.

“People want to see a better living environment,” said Chew, who intends to bring her Beliawanis to “service the people in Seputeh”.

Ummm, is she going to bring all her Beliawanis members by the truckloads to *gasp* SERVICE the people?

:|

And if I hear any other ‘nak jadi tapi tak jadi’ politicians say that they are going to install CCTVs to combat crime, I swear I will blow my top. CCTV didn’t save Nurin did it? All the CCTVs installed in public places throughout Wangsa Maju all stopped working and guess what, crime is still rampant!

Kampung Tunku candidate from BN Sheah Kok Fah has said it. Former a councillor with the then Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) - I have my reservations on how clean he is. MPPJ is the shits and it has always been. Last thing any constituency needs is a local councillor as their state assemblymen. Double the red tape, double the corruption and double the inaction. His stand to use CCTVs - aku tak sokong.

Chew No Fun has said it too. If you click the link, you can see what she’s doing best - playing the local council’s role. Conclusion, you cannot trust local councillors! If people like Sheah would’ve help fix all the drains in PJ long time ago, we won’t be asking our legislator i.e. Chew to do some lousy drainage work. CCTV to solve natch thefts in PJU? I doubt it will work.

Bottomline is, CCTVs do not prevent crime. They can merely assist the police or victim identify the criminal but that is also subject to how smart the criminal is in wearing a mask etc. If you want to really prevent crime, think like criminals and to figure what factors would act as a deterrent. Trust me it is not very hard to steal a CCTV or break it. Haven’t we watched in MacGyver always uses a mirror to block the view or use a small knife to cut the wired? Or even better, watch the Mission Impossible series and you can learn how to loop the video so it plays the same scene over and over again (well, for an elaborate heist that is).

So what is the best way to solve crime? Give people opportunities for employment, reduce the price of goods by strengthening the economy by plugging leakages and wastage. It’s a national issue and it’s most certainly an economic and social problem. Short term measures - since I believe we should never rely on the police - is to bolster neighbourhood watches by getting the community closer to monitor the area and look out for each other. A thief is happiest if the neighbourhood does not even stir when an alarm goes off. I’ve broken into my own home before, I know. Contracting neighbourhood patrols are not ideal, I strongly believe they can be in cohorts with syndicate robbers. We need to be vigilant and community ties has never been more important than ever.

So for election campaigns - please don’t take the CCTV route in resolving crime. CCTVs require manpower, and if you don’t have people monitoring them or changing the tapes or whatever - it’s absolutely pointless!

I have more to blog but I’m getting my first day off in two weeks. I’m going back to bed.