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Police use of public video surveillance in Germany 1956: Management of traffic, repression of flows, persuasion of offenders
[journal article]
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 repressi... view more
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.... view less
Keywords
surveillance; police; traffic; control; video; recording; traffic volume; Federal Republic of Germany; media skills; historical development; technology assessment; traffic avoidance
Classification
Criminal Sociology, Sociology of Law
Technology Assessment
Free Keywords
Videoüberwachung; Verkehrsmanagement
Document language
English
Publication Year
2009
Page/Pages
p. 43-47
Journal
Surveillance & Society, 6 (2009) 1
Issue topic
Revisiting Video Surveillance
ISSN
1477-7487
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0