-Caveat Lector- http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,525656,00.html Smart cameras will spot the guilty before they commit a crime Nick Paton Walsh Sunday July 22, 2001 The Observer They record our every move from almost every vantage point. But soon CCTV cameras will have another power: the ability to predict crime on Britain's streets. Researchers at Sussex University have discovered how CCTV camera controllers spot criminals by studying the way they walk. The team of psychologists studied 10,000 excerpts from CCTV footage and found a number of 'trigger signals' in criminal behaviour which showed when offenders were about to commit a crime. The footage showed how car thieves tended to walk erratically and look in directions irrelevant to their path of travel. Before an act of violence culprits would walk aggressively, their arms static by their sides, taking long purposeful strides. Professor Tom Troscianko of the School of Cognitive and Computer Sciences, who headed the study, said researchers chose a hundred scenes from CCTV footage filmed around the country. Each scene lasted 15 seconds and they were based around three scenarios: a fight outside a public venue, violence against property in the street, and car theft in an underground car park. Some scenes depicted the moments prior to a crime while others showed activity that did not result in a crime. A hundred people - 50 professional CCTV controllers and 50 civilian volunteers - were asked to watch the footage and guess which scene would result in a crime and indicate when during the 15 seconds they had reached their decision. 'The actual crime was never shown' said Troscianko. 'In each sequence we recorded the exact movements of the people. We looked at the moments in each sequence which increased the chance of people making the right prediction that a crime would happen.' The types of behaviour were then ranked. 'When these trigger factors were present, like a type of walk or a type of "gaze behaviour", we saw that people were approximately twice as likely to predict a crime' said Troscianko. Before a violent act like a fight, an assailant walked in a very aggressive way. 'The stride length and speed of walk would increase, but they would not run. Their arms did not move much, and tended to stay down at their sides. They walk in a direct line purposefully.' Similar patterns were observed before damage was done to property. Before a car theft a culprit would walk slowly or even remain still while looking around. 'He will be looking to see if he is being observed.' The team are now seeking funding to develop software to continue their work. But campaigners have expressed concern at a new breed of 'intelligent cameras' raising concerns of a Big Brother society. MP Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman said: 'CCTV needs to be used as the exception and not the rule in public places and only rarely in private places.' [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Best Wishes ...and the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto, --a power which, more than any other, ought to produce a universal alarm, because it is leveled against the right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication along the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual gardian of every other right. -Virginia Resolutions, December 24, 1798 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
