From: Chris at "The 1 In 12 Club" <1in12@legend.co.uk>

Bradford's CCTV circus is a perfect example of how politicians and the media collude in the unthinking farce of modern democracy.

It shows how both sides combine to waste money, time and effort on red herrings, while the real problems go unaddressed and real solutions are never attempted.

And worse, it highlights the hideous self-righteousness they feel as they throw away thousands of pounds of public money in return for the fleeting appearance of actually giving a damn.

CCTV was a gift for the newspapers. For years fear of crime has been a staple ingredient in newspaper sales. No matter how much research showed that fear was a greater deterrent to people walking the streets than crime itself, newspapers continued to feed people's paranoia that the barbarians are at the door.

When CCTV came along it was snapped up by newspapers anxious to show they cared about the communities they lived off. Papers could run campaigns calling for CCTV to be installed and, as a bonus, could get some of those juicy stills to help police appeals ... and shift a few more copies, of course.

People believed CCTV would keep them safe because they were told so. It all seemed so logical - no one wants to be caught breaking the law on camera.

But CCTV doesn't stop city centre violence because most of that is between drunken young men too out-of-it to care whether they're being filmed or not.

It doesn't stop mugging because most mugging goes on away from the bright lights and high-profile surveillance cameras of the immediate city centre.

It doesn't stop drug dealing because what self-respecting dealer would stand selling in the middle of Centenary Square.

It doesn't stop burglary because people's homes don't warrant closed-circuit cameras.

But in spite of this the myth of CCTV is upheld by its unholy trinity: misguided public opinion, sales-hungry newspapers, and vote-hungry politicians.

The truth of the matter is that CCTV is an expensive public relations exercise. It's a way for the council to say: "Look, this proves we care, this proves you were right to pick us."

So the newspapers get their sales, the council gets re-elected, and when Joe Public gets home to find his house has been ransacked, his belongings trashed or stolen, and shit smeared all over his walls, he can say to himself: "Oh well, at least I was safe as I walked through the busy city centre in broad daylight. And all thanks to CCTV."

The 1 In 12 Club 21-23 Albion St, Bradford. BD1 2LY. UK Tel 01274 734160 http://www.legend.org.uk/~1in12 -----------------------------------------