Billion pound UK CCTV solves 3% of crimes. Efficient?

Seen on Slashdot:

"People who give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of security deserve neither, the saying goes. But what happens when people give up so much liberty their entire country resembles an Orweillean dystopia — but the pervasive monitoring doesn't help to solve any crimes? That's what is happening in the United Kingdom today. While the Guardian tries to put a good spin on the entire fiasco, the fact remains that CCTVs only help with 3% of all street robberies, the very crimes they were supposed to be best at protecting. Should England finally move to eliminate its troubling state surveillance program?"

Previously, a study in Germany also showed that public CCTV surveillance didn't improve security or solve a lot of crimes. Despite the massive costs and the invasion of privacy, they continue expanding it.

Like any good security programs, you need metrics to see how efficient your measures are. Concentrate on the effective measures and back down on the high cost low efficiency countermeasures. Don't be a FUD seller.

Previous posts:

• Dutch government wants fingerprints of every dutchman in national database
• Public CCTV cameras: effective measures or money down the drain?
• Mandatory keyloggers in cybercafes: all in the name of fighting terrorism