Cut to the Chase: Editing Time and Space through Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance

The UK is said to have the largest number of CCTV cameras of any European nation. These cameras have been involved in a variety of changes in UK police practices. Such changes range from new evidential practices in court cases, through access to new materials, to new questions posed regarding invasions of privacy. One unexplored area of police practices, which this paper will argue have undergone significant changes since the introduction of CCTV cameras, is police accountability. This paper will draw on recent controversies in the UK regarding police car chases to investigate the ways in which CCTV cameras have led to new and complex questions of police accountability.