By Lee Hyo-sik
Surveillance cameras are seemingly omnipresent in Seoul and other parts of the country as law enforcement authorities increased installments of the devices to help prevent crime and identify criminals.
While the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras have proven effective in apprehending law-breakers to some degree, their effectiveness suffers from a lack of monitoring personnel.
Increasing installments of cameras have also drawn criticism from human rights groups that claim misuse by the state and corporations as a tool to spy on people, raising public concerns over the invasion of privacy.
Citing the data submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Rep. Yoon Jeong-bok of the Grand National Party (GNP) said a total of 9,682 surveillance cameras were installed and are monitored by 217 personnel at 31 police stations in Seoul. If screeners work in three shifts, one has to monitor an average of 135 CCTV cameras at a time.
By district, only one police officer was found to monitor 174 cameras in Gangbuk district.
In the case of Dobong district in northern Seoul, the number of cameras one employee has to monitor came in at 100. When screeners go home, other duty officers at a situation room have to keep an eye on the screen, while performing other work, Rep. Yoo said.
But the situation is a little bit better in Gangnam District as 28 police officers and civil servants dispatched from the district office monitor 600 cameras.
``Police stations and district offices in Seoul have been setting up thousands of surveillance cameras for crime prevention and other purposes. But if these cameras are not properly monitored due to manpower shortage, they become ineffective in stopping crime and catching criminals,’’ the GNP lawmaker said.
He also expressed prevailing concerns over the invasion of privacy by surveillance cameras, stressing that police and municipal administrations should come out with guidelines on how the device operates in order to maximize use.
The number of complaints filed by citizens over possible privacy invasion by surveillance cameras has jumped four-fold over the past five years, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said Wednesday.
It said 326 petitions were filed by individuals who claimed they were victimized by CCTV cameras in 2010, up from 80 in 2005.
The commission said complaints against the cameras have been on the rise as the government has installed the devices at bus stops and other public locations. Employers have also set up more cameras in offices and plants to better monitor employees.
``One officer worker complained that he received a call from his boss after he was filmed coming back to the office late from lunch break. One bus driver told us that he was disciplined because he did not greet passengers,” an NHRC official said. “Many others also complained that their companies installed surveillance cameras in the workplace without consent from staff.’’
He said the commission will study and classify 5,000 complaints filed against surveillance cameras between November 2001 and September this year.
“We are going to make the results public in December in order to increase public awareness of the device’s possible negative effects,” he said.