Excessive CCTV @ Hotels

[wheeliebinwanking]

I am not a criminal on the run so don't worry...

But I noticed at a hotel I stayed at during a recent trip to London an abundance of CCTV cameras. I had a young lady (massage) outcall visit my hotel. I was initally happy that the hotel was one where you could get into the lift and direct to the room without the use of the room card, but why all the CCTV everywhere. Literally outside the hotel door was about 2 CCTV cameras looking along the hall way

Would this put you off in anyway??

WBW

[RalphMouse]

I doubt anybody pays attention unless they need to go back and look after there has been a problem.

[Marmite]

A lot of security camera recordings are archived and never seen.  Having somebody watching all the time is not cost effective unless an issue has been highlighted.  As has been highlighted on many occasions in the media not all cameras are operational.

All in all not much to worry about if you are not committing a crime.

[vw]

Would this put you off in anyway??

WBW

Would put me of getting a blow job in the corridor while everyone is asleep as someone could be waking off watching me.  The outside ones really piss me off, love to shag posh ladies over a council dustbin have not found a suitable one for 6 years now since they started hanging little ones on posts in the areas with no CCTV.

Sorry for the rant

Feel your pain OP, what was your hall way thing ?

[PLeisure]

love to shag posh ladies over a council dustbin

Yesss.....     

[Gordon Bennett]

Well easy access and a dozy front desk might suit your punting but what about if you're there as a civilian with your family - surely you'd want them safe and secure and not at that mercy of any old headcase who drifts in? Wasn't there an horrific murder in The Cumberland a few years ago when some itinerants waltzed in on the rob and stoved in the heads of two Saudi princesses? In this day and age I think CCTV would be extensive and necessary in hotels unfortunately.

[pking_paul]

Big brother is definitely here to stay. I've worked in security in the past and very little footage is kept beyond a week unless specifically needed. As said above - who can afford someone to watch it all?

As for posh bird over the bins - great idea and wish I could see that footage, gives a new meaning to posh planter  :roll eyes:

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[Jimmyredcab]

Big brother is definitely here to stay.

I can't see a problem ------------------- only if you are a thief or a terrorist, most of us in London are recorded on film hundreds of times each day -------------------- so what.     

[Cuntminion]

How big a deal is cctv to punters ?

When I saw Vicky there was cctv all over, it was a posh block though

[mr small]

There will always be a chance that if something serious happens while you are in the area that the old bill will come looking for you to see if you have any info.

Will wg who was registered at said hotel provide client no's or will police stick your image on national tv ?

If something happens in a hotel you have been in, might be best to go to police yourself when it suits you, just in case they come looking for you at an inappropriate time.

[cassini]

I've worked in security in the past and very little footage is kept beyond a week unless specifically needed. As said above - who can afford someone to watch it all?

CCTV footage is kept for a full calendar month.

Back in the days of CCTV being recorded on video cassette there had to be 31 numbered cassettes kept secure in a cabinet. Each cassette should be signed and dated before recording is started and the start /end times logged.

Now CCTV systems are all digital, footage is kept on a hard drive for 31 days before it is overwritten. Burning the footage is a simple process and will be burnt to disc with 2 copies made one kept in house and one for the old bill, this can be done at any time upto the 31 day limit.

Some systems keep data for longer depending on the kind of establishment. Any premises serving alcohol will have the provision of CCTV written in to their licence.

To put the OP at ease unless this hotel is a large establishment or part of an airport then it will unlikely be a live monitored system.

One thing to be aware of is ANPR cameras on carparks, lots of these have the ability to record the drivers face as well as the vehicle number plate.

[wheeliebinwanking]

Thanks for all the replies.

I know CCTV monitor our every movement and they're about for our safety but I guess I got wearded out thinking someone is watching the comings and goings of each room. I'm sure I'll get over it, it's just this new hotel seem to have camera everywhere. More obvious that the usual

Perhaps a deterrent in itself

WBW

[Siadwel]

For our safety?

They don't prevent crime, they sometimes help to catch the perpetrators, but they didn't prevent Millie Dowler or others from being murdered and they didn't prevent the London Tube and Bus bombings.

They're not for our safety.

[vw]

They're not for our safety.

CCTV can detect automatically people collapsing and sends signals to who ever should be informed.  Works exactly the same way as the please refrain from smoking message automatically played in CCTV zones, people are not watching the CCTV system learns behaviour and reacts accordingly.

Agree though not their primary purpose that's revenue protection, everything boils down to that in the end.

[pking_paul]

CCTV footage is kept for a full calendar month.

Now CCTV systems are all digital, footage is kept on a hard drive for 31 days before it is overwritten.

To put the OP at ease unless this hotel is a large establishment or part of an airport then it will unlikely be a live monitored system.

One thing to be aware of is ANPR cameras on carparks, lots of these have the ability to record the drivers face as well as the vehicle number plate.

Very good point about the car park, and about the bigger businesses having to keep it a month. Not everyone keeps to the exact rules of course. The point is well made that no-one really monitors them, thanks.

[Jimmyredcab]

For our safety?

They don't prevent crime, they sometimes help to catch the perpetrators, but they didn't prevent Millie Dowler or others from being murdered and they didn't prevent the London Tube and Bus bombings.

They're not for our safety.

Nonsense.

Anyone remember the murder of James Bulger, CCTV in the shopping center helped the police to trace the young boys responsible for the killing.     

Also ------------- David Copeland, the racist bomber, was caught with the help of CCTV images.   

[Siadwel]

Read what I wrote, they don't prevent crime.. They don't even prevent prevent fender-benders at busy road junctions.

Jamie Bulger is still dead and the two who killed him are still alive and at large, I believe, although I haven't followed their everyday movements. Even if they're still away, they're still alive and will be out one day.

Don't know about the the other one you mentioned, but did CCTV prevent him exploding his bombs or catch him after the event, again?

They are NOT for our safety, and the 'if you have nothing to hide' argument is fatuous, too. I have no criminal record, have a good credit rating, live in a respectable area, never put myself in a dangerous situation, work for a living and pay my own bills. Why should my every movement be watched over as soon as I leave my house? Why is it so important to someone that everywhere I go, I should be able to be tracked from CCTV cam to CCTV cam? Why not put that CCTV money back into 'Bobbies on the Beat'? That would be more to do with 'Our safety' than CCTV everywhere. In the UK, we've sleep-walked into becoming the most watched-over country in Western Europe.

And please, don't tell me 'Nonsense' in such a dismissive manner. Just because my beliefs and attitudes differ from yours, it does not make them nonsense. I don't consider, nor comment, that your beliefs and attitudes are nonsense, they are just that....different.

[yorkshire123]

For our safety?

They don't prevent crime, they sometimes help to catch the perpetrators, but they didn't prevent Millie Dowler or others from being murdered and they didn't prevent the London Tube and Bus bombings.

They're not for our safety.

When I first read this I thought what a load of bollocks.

My reasoning was that I have an uncle who was forever getting broken into by the estates little darlings & since we had cctv fitted he hasn't had any bother what's so ever, thus this system (so far) has had a preventative effect on his situation.

However before wading in I thought I would do a little research & found this article from the college of policing, now I don't know the validity of the author, how out of date it is or if its police propaganda for more coppers but it was enough for me have a rethink.
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Location Results of review......
 
Car Parks Combining the data from six separate UK studies shows a marked and statistically significant reduction in vehicle–related crimes. The review found that overall crime decreased by 51 per cent in sites operating CCTV compared to areas where there was no such intervention. In all six UK studies of car parks, the introduction of CCTV was coupled with other improvements such as better lighting and increased security staff

City and town centres Overall the review found a small reduction in crime but one that was insufficiently clear to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of CCTV. When 15 UK city centre projects were analysed together, a 10 per cent fall in crime was identified, though this finding was not statistically significant.

Public Housing Estates CCTV resulted in a small but non significant reduction in crime. Three of nine estates in the analysis witnessed reductions in crime following the installation of CCTV, but in other estates there were either increases in crime, or results were ambiguous. 

Public Transport The combined data of 4 studies on underground systems shows a ‘sizeable’ (23 per cent) reduction in crime, but this figure is driven by one particularly successful intervention in London. Two of the other interventions either saw increased crime rates or made no difference. Overall the findings are ambiguous and not statistically significant.