When Bill Brown paid a visit to Leeds he was stunned by what he found.

A leading campaigner against the spread of CCTV cameras, the New Yorker has got the skill of spotting them down to a fine art. But even he was struck by just how many were keeping a beady eye on the comings and goings in the bustling city centre.
Concentrating on the area bordered by East Parade to the west, Vicar Lane to the east, Boar Lane to the south and Merrion Way to the north, he counted no fewer than 153 cameras.
A total of 115 were installed on the exteriors of privately owned buildings, and most likely operated by private security guards; 22 hidden within uncommonly large, black-tinted globes, and most likely operated by the police; and 16 installed atop poles, and definitely operated by the City Council.
"The city centre occupies 16 square blocks and so there are, on average, almost 10 cameras per block," he said.
"By contrast, there are only seven cameras per city block in the most highly surveilled neighbourhoods in New York City and Chicago, which are of course much larger cities. The situation fairly boggles the mind."

Surveillance is suddenly all the rage.

The spiralling cost of providing more and more CCTV cameras was cited as a factor as Leeds City Council sought to justify an inflation-busting 4.7 per cent hike in council tax.
Council leader Andrew Carter said the cost of meeting public demand for new cameras, coupled with a reduction in Government cash, was a major factor.

"Even though the Government has taken away money for our anti-social behaviour unit, wardens and CCTV, we have replaced all that money to protect services people believe are vital."
There are now almost 300 cameras council-operated in the city and John Birkenshaw, senior manager responsible for crime reduction and CCTV from Leeds Community Safety, said they were struggling to keep up with demand.

"The demand for CCTV from the Leeds public is insatiable. Every community in Leeds seems to want it but cost is a factor. It costs £20,000 just to install one camera."
Housing associations are also increasingly turning to CCTV as a means of keeping their tenants safe.

Aire Valley Homes splashed out on four state-of-the-art CCTV cameras for the Manor Farm Estate in Middleton at a total cost of £80,000 just before Christmas.

Meanwhile live footage from hundreds of others is being monitored 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week at control rooms in Wetherby, Middleton and the Merrion Centre in Leeds city centre.
These centres will soon be amalgamated in a new high-tech centre at a secret location in Leeds.

Then there are the hundreds of others operated by private firms, all keeping a watch on our movements.

But are CCTV cameras really the crimefighting silver bullet the public apparently believes them to be?

Not if recent Home Office research is anything to go by.

The National CCTV Strategy, published last October, found that more than eight out of 10 CCTV cameras fail to provide satisfactory images for the police. It revealed that the majority of cameras are not positioned in places where they can combat terrorism or serious crime.

Some cameras originally installed to fight crime are now being used to monitor bus lanes while many cameras in public places such as shopping centres and transport hubs are designed to monitor "crowds, slips, trips and falls" rather than detect crime.

Shadow home secretary David Davis claimed it meant we were suffering all the disadvantages of CCTV - most notably in terms of compromising our right to privacy - while deriving only "minimal advantage" in terms of public safety and crime detection.

Further Home Office figures appear to support his view.

Between 1996 and 1998, three-quarters of the Home Office's crime prevention budget was spent on CCTV, yet a comprehensive review later revealed the overall reduction in crime amounted to just five per cent.

A parallel review carried out by the Home Office found that the provision of additional street lighting resulted in crime falling by 20 per cent.

Those in charge of the public CCTV network in Leeds, however, insist it is paying dividends.

"Over 3,000 arrests were made last year due to CCTV in Leeds for offences ranging from anti-social behaviour to murder," said John Birkenshaw.
"That shows it's working and that we are getting a good return on our investment."

New CCTV cameras installed in Pudsey and Farsley have alone been credited with bringing nearly 200 prosecutions in the space of 18 months.

"We are not catching people throwing cigarette ends," added Mr Birkenshaw. "We are dealing with serious criminal offences and the cameras are also backed up with extra patrols.
"They are there for public safety and reassurance and we know that the people want them."

Ironically, a residents' campaigner was evicted from his home last week after being caught on CCTV throwing bricks at a neighbour's window. Liam Jordan had led calls for extra security, including cameras, at his flats complex in Killingbeck following a spate of brick attacks on properties.

Such is the current level of demand for CCTV systems among the public that DIY superstore B&Q sells a system for £200.

The Micromark system comes complete with four cameras which allow a homeowner to monitor the exterior of their property.

A special movement sensor camera even sounds a buzzer when a visitor, invited or otherwise, is detected.

More advanced systems offer the ability for users to monitor goings on at home even when they are not there via live footage patched through to their mobile phone.

Richard Hartley, who runs Secure Solutions in Farsley, said home CCTV installations accounted for a growing part of his business.

"I think it was after the Dunblane tragedy (when gunman Thomas Hamilton killed 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in 1996) that people started becoming more aware of them.

"Parents saw the cameras being installed in the schools and started asking about it.

"The systems I put in do come at a cost, but my customers see it as a worthwhile investment for the extra security it gives them."

Recent high-profile incidents such as the murder of Gary Newlove, who was beaten to death outside his home in Warrington after confronting a gang of youths, have only fuelled the demand for CCTV.

Martin Bowers, a residents' group leader in Gipton, said cameras divided opinion.

"We don't have much CCTV round here but a lot of people want it and others are less keen.

"Personally I think the more cameras the better. Taxi drivers are being attacked and there is a lot of anti-social behaviour going on.
"The older generation would feel safer if there were cameras up there keeping an eye on things and looking after them.
"At the end of the day, if you're not doing anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about."

Meanwhile, CCTV is fast becoming a major money-spinner.

On his visit to Leeds, Bill Brown noted that, almost without exception, each privately operated surveillance camera had a small sign on it proclaiming the name of the company that manufactured it.

"It's a form of advertising," says the activist, who stages protests in front of CCTV cameras as a member of the New York-based Surveillance Camera Players.
 
"This clearly suggests that, not only are surveillance cameras designed to create an environment in which it is safe to do business, surveillance cameras are themselves a big business."