NCJ Number
197566
Date Published
2002
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines some of the issues associated with the introduction of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) into all the cells in the custody suite at the police station in Kilburn, North London (England).
Abstract
The cells are subject to continuous 24-hour CCTV surveillance by custody officers and jailers working in the custody suite. Previously, CCTV had been confined, at most, to one or two cells within a custody suite in order to monitor particularly vulnerable prisoners. Under the current practice, every cell has complete camera coverage, with no "blind" spots and no pixillation of the pictures. This means that the toilet area of each cell is visible and is filmed at all times. The chapter focuses on the objectives of this experiment, the balancing of privacy and protection, the prison cell as having various spaces with varying expectations of privacy, and the question of impact. One of the central objectives of the Kilburn experiment is to increase the level of surveillance of people detained in custody and, as a consequence, reduce the likelihood that harm, however inflicted, may befall them. This increased protection for prisoners, however, is afforded at a cost in terms of privacy, not only to themselves, but also to police officers, since police officer actions in the cells will also be under surveillance. Comments by prisoners on the cell surveillance have tended to downplay the privacy issue, particularly since the cameras ensure that police will not abuse them. 27 references