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When the biter gets bitten

· Privacy & Panopticon

Here is a sight calculated to warm the hearts of anyone who has been bitten by the state’s fetish for surveillance.

June 9th, 2006 |

22 comments to When the biter gets bitten

  • John K
    June 9, 2006 at 11:47 pm

    Excellent to see that some of the peasants are revolting at last. I think this shows that the police are fast reaching the limits of the “consent” by which they claim they serve.

    I have always thought that in a country with more widespread ownership of guns, there would be no point installing gatsos, but it seems that tyres make an adequate substitute.

  • veryretired
    June 9, 2006 at 11:54 pm

    It is an interesting fact, and a telling one, that these devices are always, without fail, aimed at the citizenry, as if there is some overriding concern that a private citizen might do something so horrendous that millions of dollars and untold manhours must be devoted to watching out for it.

    Now, I agree that there are dangerous people in our midst, and that there is a responsibility on the part of the state to protect us from these dangerous elements.

    However, by any objective measure, the most dangerous members of society in terms of the immense damage they can inflict, in terms of capability, and have inflicted, in terms of the historical record, are the members of the political elites who decide to conduct massive campaigns of represssion against their own citizens, and wage aggressive and murderous wars against the citizens of other nations.

    Surely, the level of death and destruction brought about by any group of governmental agents, even those we generally regard as morally justified and legitimate, such as the Allied cause in WW2, is far and away more damaging and dangerous than any action by individual citizens, even if they attempt to cooperate in terrorist activity.

    If, then, there is a compelling need and reasonable justification for these cameras and other instrumentalities in order to protect the ordinary mass of the people from persons with nefarious intentions and evil designs, it would certainly seem even more compelling and even more rational to surround any member of the political and governmental apparatus with continuous monitoring of their conduct, speech, and interaction on a 24 hour, 7 day a week basis.

    It seems to me indisputable that the agents of the state, in all times and all cultures of human history, have posed the most dire and immediate threat to the
    well being of the ordinary, private citizen.

    If, for example, a plague similar to the “Black Death” had swept across the world during the 20th century and caused hundreds of millions of deaths, and uncountable destruction and loss, all of humanity would be desperately united in a search for ways to prevent such a catastrophe from reoccurring.

    But, as we all know, the recent century was a time of unprecedented death and destruction brought about on a mass scale by the unfettered actions of political entities acting both internally and externally. In all these cases, the agents of the state claimed only good motives, depicted themselves as the protectors of the citizen’s best interests, and condemned any who objected to imprisonment or death.

    This activity was world wide, across all continents and cultures, and reflected traditional cultural and social trends from every corner of the globe. Indeed, if examined carefully and impartially, these recurring disasters of warfare, pogrom, repression, famine, and terror campaign would have only one true common factor, only one common denominator—they all consisted of, and relied on, the exercise of state power indifferent to the rights and freedoms of ordinary men and women.

    So, turn the cameras on, and keep them on. Just keep them pointed at the source of danger, not the victim.

    Then we could all sit back and enjoy the show.

  • maxnnr
    June 10, 2006 at 12:27 am

    Awesome!! made my day to see this!!!

  • Andrew Milner
    June 10, 2006 at 1:37 am

    Does your heart good, doesn’t it? Keep in mind it’s the working class that’s leading the charge against Police State UK. But hey, I’ve been beaming on to that site for some two years now. Do I sense a business opportunity here: So anyone interested in a container of battery-powered 9-inch angle grinders? Now if only we can convince NuLabour to ban attendance at football matches.
    Revolution now!
    Well that’s got the troops psyched up. Now for a nice neutral Buddhist country with cheap booze and a liberal attitude towards whoring. Spoilt for choice I daresay.

  • APL
    June 10, 2006 at 9:02 am

    By the looks of it, those GATSO s seem to be inherently inflammable. Perhaps someone should notify the health and safety executive?

    Putting that type of equipment next to a busy main road must be a public safety hazard.

  • Tom Morris
    June 10, 2006 at 11:54 am

    Good to see enraged motorists letting their righteous anger out at the so-called authorities. Now, we need pedestrians to do the same by flipping the finger at all, holding a sheet up to or otherwise sending a “fuck you” message to the authorities behind those CCTV cameras that litter our cities and towns.

  • ADE
    June 10, 2006 at 2:30 pm

    Bollocks, samizdata.

    I’m righter than right, but when are you guys going to take on the reality that we are at war?

    It’s not about speedsters, it’s not about “SURVEILLANCE”. The mass murderer Zarquari was caught by its use. Its about purpose.

    Intelegence, gentlemen. Direction, purpose, evolution, usage, context.

    Don’t you think PC Plod knows this too?

    ADE

  • Alex (the racist arsehole)
    June 10, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    Just another deleted racist.

  • ADE
    June 10, 2006 at 2:49 pm

    So let’s get it right.

    I don’t like cameras.

    I don’t like burquas (except when the girls are ugly). I don’t like balaclavas (even if the boys are pretty).

    Why? Because I want to know you Yes. you do something ILLEGAL, I want to know who you are.

    The IMPORTANCE of the illegality will be decided by the jury, our peers.

    That’s our system. It works.

    ADE

  • Tom Morris
    June 10, 2006 at 2:52 pm

    Yes, we need to get with the reality that we are in a war with that horrific [abstract noun]. That totally justifies being slapped with a £50 ticket by the operator of a hidden camera for creeping a mile over the limit on an empty dual-carriageway. It’s absolutely not about context. If it was about context and purpose, why exactly are the killers of Mr. Harry Stanley and Mr. Jean Charles de Menezes not in front of the Old Bailey on some form of homicide charge like murder or manslaughter? It is about nepotism, chumminess and fear.

    Presumably, once the war with [abstract noun] is over, Blair and friends, or his NuLab or NuCon replacement, will be rolling back all these extravagant police state measures and returning us to a nice, calm, libertarian utopia free from armed SWAT teams and CCTV. And if you believe that, I’ve got a lawyer friend in Nigeria who wants to share the profits from a recently deposed African leader with you, and he only needs £300 sent by wire transfer in the next week. He’ll even throw a basketful of four-leaf clovers and flying piglets in for free!

  • ADE
    June 10, 2006 at 3:27 pm

    Tom,

    I’ll de-absract your first “horrific [abstract noun]” – Islam.

    Horrific, isn’t it.

    Now if you think this is a 50 quid item, I’d get off that medication if I were you.

    “Blair and friends, or his NuLab or NuCon replacement” are a bunch of gobshites. You have to rise above this.

    There are precedents for “rolling back all these extravagant police state measures and returning us to a nice, calm, libertarian utopia free from armed SWAT teams” Remarkably, they are from your own culture (eg following the end of ww2).

    Even more remarkably, they are an Anglosphere tradition.

    Woops, have I now ofended the Lefties on this site?

    ADE

  • Richard Thomas
    June 10, 2006 at 4:00 pm

    This Gatso in Barnsley has been blown up. This method of destruction is becoming increasingly popular.

    Possibly more for the message than for the effectiveness at disabling the Gatsos?

    Rich

  • James
    June 10, 2006 at 4:14 pm

    Excellent site, although I have a suggestion for making use of that blank white space on the right hand side of the page; Burnt Gatso, Page 3 lady, Burnt Gatso, Page 3 lady, Burnt…. You get the idea.

  • Praxis
    June 10, 2006 at 6:07 pm

    Woops, have I now ofended the Lefties on this site?

    No, just made yourself look like a moron.

  • Captain Gatso
    June 10, 2006 at 6:18 pm

    The IMPORTANCE of the illegality will be decided by the jury, our peers. That’s our system. It works.

    No, it doesn’t work. And you know what? A different jury of peers is voting and the results can be seen on speedcam.co.uk.

  • PhilB
    June 10, 2006 at 10:13 pm

    I wondered at the “speed” cameras being rebranded as “safety” cameras and touted as the solution to everything. I’m waiting for them to be rebranded as “anti terrorism” cameras to justify the unjustifiable …

    The only fly in the ointment is that the State takes VERY SERIOUSLY any interference with its revenue gathering activities (take for example the reaction to not paying a TV licence or Council tax as opposed to theft, murder, drug dealing etc.).

    So what is the betting that CCTV cameras will be used to watch the Gatsos and the Police reaction time to any attempt at destruction of these money boxes on poles will be so fast that your head will spin …

    You read it here first (perhaps).

  • Captain Gatso
    June 11, 2006 at 1:39 am

    “I am Sparticus.” Everybody blog as “Captain Gatso”.

  • merovign
    June 11, 2006 at 6:06 pm

    While I’m not sure the nickname is still in use, there’s a class of portable cutters we used to call “Sidewinders.” Basically an air saw, grinder or hacksaw powered by high-pressure tanks carried in a backpack. Cuts through plate glass and steel. Some fire departments keep them in smaller vehicles that don’t carry hydraulic equipment for opening vehicles.

    Not that I’m trying to suggest anyone get a bunch of these and send teams out to cut down these cameras, oh no.

    Sadly, we here in the US are being acclimated to red light cameras (which have a stunningly high “false positive” rate, thankfully usually easily detected). Some really want to go to public surveillance, but the general mood is that public surveillance cameras are not entirely illegitimate targets for testing ranged small-payload delivery systems.

    How come we import speed cameras and roundabouts (euch) from the UK but we can’t get TVRs or Cosworth Fords? That’s what I want to know.

  • Ron Brick
    June 12, 2006 at 1:06 am

    Cheer you might,but wait until this man starts putting remote control guns into Gatsos.

  • Michael Taylor
    June 12, 2006 at 10:06 am

    It’d take a heart of stone not to enjoy those pictures.

    At the same time, if there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with speed limits, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the Gatsos which enforce them. I live in a village with a 30 mph limit on it, and I’ve two kids growing up – ’nuff said.

    The problem is really a matter of legitimacy, or rather the lack of it. How are speed limits determined? How, if they are deemed wrong, can they be changed? What democratic input, if any, does those most effected – ie, the local community – have in these decisions. Similarly, what local democratic control does a town or village have on the amount of police resources dedicated to enforcing speed limits?

    Motorists see Gatsos as evidence of the government’s war on them. And they may be right. But what the fightback against Gatsos show is the slowly-rising anger about the lack of democratic accountability of those in power – over a broad field.

  • Dale Amon
    June 13, 2006 at 8:41 pm

    Ah, nothing like a toasty speed camera to warm your hands on a cold day, eh wot?

    Like I said before: “What do you call a Government Camera?” Answer: “Target practice”

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