Exploring Relations between Watchers and Watched in Control(led) Systems: Strategies and Tactics

Abstract

Using ethnographic observation within a number of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) control rooms as evidence, this paper documents the apparently trivial but subjectively meaningful types of technologically mediated interaction taking place between CCTV operators and those watched. It examines the operators' interpretations of the various incidents, individuals and social realities observed. In so doing, the author suggests a number of interesting social-phenomenological processes are occurring. These include: the formation and existence of disembodied relationships between watchers and watched across distanciated CCTV surveillance networks; an operator gaze incorporating care, control and creativity; the existence of hermeneutical narrative constructions among the operators. The latter practice can be empirically demonstrated through the operators' creation of 'celebrity characters', their attribution of pseudo-identities for cameo 'guest stars' and their playful characterisation of the framed action taking place in the spaces under observation. It is argued that such informal tactics, employed to both entertain and relieve pressure, are the unintended outcome of systemic strategies of control designed to induce conformity. They allow the operators to make sense of, bring meaning to and cope with relentless, often disjointed, imagery and with the emotional strain of the CCTV workplace culture. The paper also suggests that tactics are not limited to the watchers. The watched or Stars of CCTV appear to employ methods in a similar bid to manoeuvre themselves around the cameras. By considering the practices of watchers and watched, it is argued more generally that CCTV technology is a social medium, the people, places and objects watched functioning not simply as passive 'objects of information', but also as active 'subjects of communication'. * The author extends immense thanks to his mentor, Dr Chris Wright, who always (and selflessly) provides time, space and energy for the sounding out of ideas. He affords each and every discussion with immeasurable insight and input. Enormous gratitude is due to Norma Smith for proofreading earlier drafts. The author also wishes to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for financing the research (award number PTA-030-2002-00893). Last, but by no means least, significant indebtedness is owed to all of the operators and gatekeepers who participated in the research and who gracefully tolerated the author's 'inquisitive' presence in their world of work.

Experiences of accessing CCTV data: The urban topologies of subject access requests

“…Recent innovations such as 'smart CCTV' are extending its use further; in these instances, algorithms detect unusual behaviours, for example where there is typically a lot of movement near certain stationary objects (Held, 2012). Not surprisingly, CCTV has generated much academic attention, particularly in the fields of urban studies (Fyfe and Bannister, 1996;Klauser, 2007;Murakami Wood et al, 2007) and surveillance studies (Norris and McCahill, 2006;Smith, 2007;Webster, 2002). What I want to push for in this paper is a broader discussion on the ambiguities evident in the dynamics of urban surveillance.…”

Liminal Surveillance. Intensified use of an existing CCTV system during a local event

“…This puts the paper in the tradition of interpretative qualitative research into (CCTV) emergency control rooms (e.g. Norris and Armstrong 1999b;Smith 2007;Monahan 2007) and-more broadly defined-in the paradigm of human-technology interaction in control rooms (Suchman 1987;Heath and Luff 1992). Control rooms are complex settings dedicated to the collection, clearing, and dissemination of information about a particular event or emergency.…”

“…Due to what has been called the time/space distanciation in CCTV surveillance, it can be difficult for the operators to directly interpret the behavior of those who are monitored (Norris and McCahill 2006;Smith 2007). CCTV researchers found that the camera images were useful (if at all) mostly in retrospect (i.e.…”

Life through a Lens: Risk, Surveillance and Subjectivity

“…(Norris and Armstrong 1999: 201) These findings emphasise the categorical and labelling powers that camera operators exert in manipulating the arrangement of social reality and in concomitant decision-making protocol. Similarly, I have shown in previous research (Smith 2007(Smith , 2014 I am told about the recent death of a known prostitute from a drugs overdose. Camera Operator 7 proceeds to tell me the circumstances surrounding her death and the type of person that she was, as all the camera operators 'knew' her well: 'She was pretty well known round the town.…”

“…By subjects of these systems, Gilliom is referring to both the makers and targets of visibility, to those engaged in the production of visibility and to those whose bodies and behaviours are rendered as points of scrutiny. While they might initially appear as distinct entities, it is often the case that the two parties are interactively engaged in complex relational exchanges that pivot around the act of (un)seeing and being (un)seen (see Smith 2007Smith , 2014. This paper, however, concerns itself with the former actor, the makers and curators of visibility and, specifically, how generating street vistas impacts on the real people and real bodies who oversee a system of urban surveillance.…”