Winter Olympics At The Centre Of CCTV Storm.

With the Winter Olympics coming up, many top British athletes will be getting ready to make their way over to Vancouver in Canada in order to bag themselves a gold medal.

However, the Olympics are currently at the centre of a CCTV row- with many of Vancouver’s residents up in arms about the use of the surveillance equipment. It is estimated that around 900 cameras will be installed around areas that competition are due to take place.

The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are due to begin on the 12th of February and end at the end of March, although the cameras are due to be activated on the 1st February.

The argument over when the CCTV cameras will be turned off threatens to put a dampener on the games though, with many locals furious that city officials will not confirm when or if the cameras will be removed.

Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson said:

“We need to approach it very cautiously. There’s a reason to [use them] for the Games specifically but after that there needs to be a lot more dialogue. People have to understand what the pros and cons are before we move forward on that.”

Local student Carmen Hung agreed:

“Why, instead of hiring maybe more security personnel walking around the street do they have cameras?”

Only time will tell whether the end of the Olympics will also see the end of the surveillance cameras, although one thing is for sure- locals will not be impressed with any more excuses.

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