The appearance of security

The image of security is not security itself. A house alarm will not stop someone from robbing you and a car alarm doesn’t prevent your stereo from being stolen. Not if the thief is quick.

Obviously, security is a big deal these days. You go to the airport and have to take off your shoes, give up your makeup and pour out your water. You go to a club and they will wave a metal detector in front of you. These are palpable examples of security, but there are dozens of others that don’t seem effective.

I recently attended the premiere of the movie 2012, and was surprised to see security at the entrance to the theatre. They were collecting cell phones with cameras on them to prevent pirating.

Well, they did a horrible job. The bored-looking security person (one of five) casually asked if I had a camera on my phone and wasn’t even listening when I said “yes.” The ‘tween behind me was handing theirs over as I shrugged and walked on in, cell phone unmolested in my pocket. The funny thing was, I had a bag on my shoulder that could have easily held a dozen camcorders and tripods that they weren’t interested in. For the record, I was only carrying snacks.

A little while ago, I had the opportunity to talk with a man working security in the Safeway parking lot in Osborne Village. He described his job as “stalking people.” Basically, it was his job to ensure that people are using the large lot properly by going to one of the designated businesses (Safeway, MLCC, etc…). God help you if you park there and cross the street. Security is supposed to note when people leave the lot and ticket them, but they often have no idea which car someone comes from and are thus unable to do so.

Is that a necessary job?

I lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the summer of ‘05. Obviously the town has a long history of violence in public places, and while the British army were no longer patrolling the streets in tanks, there was a security guard in every store. Every clothing shop, every food store and every restaurant bigger than a 7-11 had a burly security guard hanging around the doorway. Would they really be able to prevent someone from blowing the place up if they really wanted? Probably not, but the image of them standing there is enough to make people think twice about trying. Maybe.

Winnipeg is not Belfast, but it seems like we’re starting to mimic their dedication to artificial security.

Cameras adorn Winnipeg’s downtown buildings, and they can see you coming from six blocks away. Yet they are rarely monitored by live people. The images they record are useful for after-the-fact examination of a crime, but are almost useless in stopping crime as it happens.

Check out this video taken in Winnipeg Square of someone shitting into a planter. Warning: it’s gross, but illustrates my point.

The security guard zooms right in but nobody comes running to stop him. Would they want to stop it? What if they observed someone getting mugged instead of going to the bathroom? Are we really safer for having these cameras or do they just give a bigger chance of the perpetrator getting caught? Do they even do that?

The appearance of security is comforting for some, but the major benefit seems to be the employment opportunities more so than the prevention of crime.