Surveillance Sidmouth

Sidmouth is a very safe place:

Futures Forum: CCTV and crime in Sidmouth

It is also demographically an ageing place:

Futures Forum: Sidmouth’s ageing population: “Without urgent investment in coastal communities, some areas will struggle to retain the working age families needed to fuel the economies of towns dominated by old people’s homes.”

And the older you get, the more fearful you are of ‘crime’:

According to the District Council, there is nothing to fear:

Surveillance in East Devon:

“We … have 6 CCTV cameras in Sidmouth Town Centre which are not monitored but the data can be retrieved by Police in the event of an incident taking place.”

CCTV – eastdevon.gov.uk

In March this year, plans for another 20 were shelved, as reported by the Herald:

Town centre CCTV plans shelved after series of setbacks

The proposals were first made in 2016:

Streelife users have mixed views on Sidmouth CCTV scheme

The point being that people do have very ‘mixed views’:

Futures Forum: CCTV ‘to catch criminals and protect vulnerable citizens’ … And yet, ‘Sidmouth has the lowest figures of actual crime, but the highest fear of crime anywhere in the UK.’

Do we really need more CCTV cameras?

Over ten years ago, the Telegraph reported:

Britain: the most spied on nation in the world

Now the UK has been overtaken – by China:

Britain Has More Surveillance Cameras Per Person Than Any Country Except China. That’s a Massive Risk to Our Free Society – Time

Surveillance in the UK rose significantly under Theresa May – who knows how far the next Tory leader will take it – Independent

And this weekend, we mark exactly seventy years since the publication of 1984:

George Orwell’s son on why 1984 still resonates 70 years on – i-news

George Orwell’s prescient novel 1984 is turning 70 and only growing more relevant with age – ABC

George Orwell’s 1984: Why it still matters – BBC – video

Free Thinking — Orwell’s 1984 – a Landmark of Culture – BBC