The Metropolitan Police in London are providing snapshot images from 80 of their traffic control CCTV cameras, available in near real time from the BBC London Live website as Jam Cam views. Being able to click on an interactive map and get a "live" picture gives an idea of the power of a linked mass surveillance system.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary are streaming RealVideo pictures from some traffic cameras in Belfast. N.B. The amount of computer processing needed to compress these images for transmission via the Internet is substantially more than that needed to run automatic vehicle number plate or facial recognition software.
If you still associate the image quality of modern CCTV systems with the blurred grey images you see at your local sweet shop or off-licence, then have a look at what is possible today with Internet connected, zoomable web cameras
Would you tolerate a camera system with resolution as good as, or better than these Perceptual Robotics cameras in place of the "cheap and cheerful" ones below ?
| Colchester | |
| Cambridge Panorama | Leicester Square, London |
| Oxford Circus, London | |
| a suburban road in London | Thames Cam, HMS Belfast, London |
| Bolton |
Even the City of Coventry has Webcams keeping up the tradition of Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom
Probably the best list of UK Web Cameras is maintained by by Norbrook Direct Ltd - www.ukwebcameras.co.uk