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With 1.5 million closed-circuit television systems watching its streets, office buildings, schools, shopping centers and roads, Britain is one of the most closely monitored nations on the planet, and the government is spending another $115 million for more TV eyes. But crime is soaring across the country. In London, a city of 8 million people, murder is going on at a record pace. Street robbery, the very crime that CCTV is supposed to be best at deterring, will reach 50,000 this year. The problem, one exasperated police source told UPI, is that "the TV cameras can't be everywhere. There are hundreds of thousands of nooks and crannies left, everywhere you look, and this is where criminals are increasingly operating. And when a camera shows up, they move elsewhere." Many of the villains are adapting. Some are targeting luxury cars on the move so that any view a TV camera gets of them is fleeting at best. Others conceal their street muggings by grabbing their victims in a clinch that, on CCTV, looks like nothing more than a romantic hug. Police say criminals discouraged by the prospect of an unwanted TV appearance in London or other cities take to commuting to the countryside where prospective victims are more trusting and the pickings are easier. A three-year study commissioned by the British government and conducted by the Scottish Center for Criminology suggested that "spy" cameras had little or no effect on crime. But authorities disagree. "When cameras are properly targeted," said Graeme Gerrard, a spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, "they can deter offenders, reduce the level of crime and increase the feeling of safety for those using our public spaces."
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