Police use of public video surveillance in Germany 1956: management of traffic, repression of flows, persuasion of offenders

Abstract

Every technology has its history. What are the beginnings of public television? This article explores the use of police CCTV in West Germany between the 1950s and the 1970s. In these early years, the public police cameras served three functions: the use of cameras in traffic management; the repressive use of cameras at demonstrations; and the persuasive use of the images. The second part of the paper takes a closer look at the third function: surveillance images as a means of persuading offenders of their guilt. It is argued, that a persuasive force exists and is consciously exploited by the police. But this force also weakens over time, when subjects acquire more and more media competence. The police respond to this problem with the transition from still to moving images – and beyond.

Hagnýting persónuupplýsinga á Facebook hjá eftirlitsstofnunum

“…Tölfraeðilegar rannsóknir hafa verið gerðar á fylgni notkunar á eftirlitsmyndavélum og glaepatíðni (Welsh & Farrington 2008). Þá hafa verið gerðar ýmsar rannsóknir á framkvaemd og þróun sértaekari vöktunar til daemis á notkun öryggis-myndavéla við umferðareftirlit (Kammerer 2009). …”

Conduct the observation/interviews - IRISS Deliverable D4.2 (September 2014)

“…In Germany the use of CCTV in public spaces is neither "new" 108 nor overlooked in the public debate 109 . The UrbanEye project documented the "inescapability" from the gaze of surveillance cameras in the city of Berlin.…”

CCTV in Denmark 1954-1982

“…Other parts draw on sociology and criminology to investigate how CCTV is perceived by the public (Ditton 2000), how work is carried out by CCTV operators (Norris and Armstrong 1999), and how CCTV affects the work of the police (Goold 2004). When this literature is considered, it is surprising how little work has been devoted to the history of CCTV (Kammerer 2009). There are important exceptions.…”

“…There are important exceptions. Williams et al (2009) have described how the police filmed street betting in the English town of Chesterfield in 1935, andKammerer (2009) has analyzed the history of police use of traffic cameras in Germany from the 1950s onward. The following is an attempt to continue the path carved out by these interesting works, but whereas both Williams and Kammerer focus on a single institution, that is, the police, our interest is in following CCTV as it has appeared in various contexts over time (Norris et al 2002).…”