At What Cost CCTV?

Boing Boing points out a big governmental program at its best:

"The Price of Privacy: How local authorities spent £515m on CCTV in four years" is a new report from Britain's Big Brother Watch, and it documents how the skyrocketing expansion of Britain's police and local government surveillance has resulted in over 4,000 fewer patrolling police officers, less privacy, and no appreciable reduction in crime.

The report goes on to detail many of the inefficiencies of the program, including that in many cases "...cameras [are] regularly not working or turned off, footage being deleted before it can be used and pictures of insufficient quality for court purposes." and also points out that "...the United Kingdom [is] the most watched nation of people anywhere in the world"

Sounds like a great program. But hey - at least the terrorists haven't won.