Big Brother in Grasse

Our neighboring enclave of Monaco has been renowned for decades for the video surveillance watching our every move, long before London gained its reputation for being the world leader in spy cameras.

Now our own town of Grasse is joining the 21st-century club of electronic crime-stopping towns. From the beginning of December, a video surveillance systme has been put in place. It's on a trail basis for the moment, but it seems to be working quite well and is no doubt here to stay.

There are 13 cameras in this initial system: 6 in Grasse centre-ville, 2 in the lower-town area called Le Plan, and 5 in the low-cost housing area near the Quatre-Chemins called Blaquière (being renamed Fleurs de Grasse as part of an image-inhancement plan).

The controlable cameras are monitored 24/7, and the video images are stored on hard disc for 15 days, then the old images are erased. Tight controls are in place limiting who has access to the images, and for very controlled times.

We're sleeping better now.

Comments

[Russ]

4-Day Cameras -
On the night of 29 Jan 2008, a "commando" of masked/hooded young men attacked the cameras of the Blaquière area, damaging or destroying most of the cameras there.

Ever since France began installing automatic speed-cameras along the autoroutes and some other roads, there's been a consistent series of attacks to damage or destroy those cameras. As far as we know, the government is keeping up with the attacks, because the speed cameras are still there (and increasing in number).

Presumably the damaged cameras are being replaced, but the news reports haven't talked about that.