The traffic authority of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, recently announced that video cameras would be installed in every city bus in order to assist with commuter safety. The cameras are part of a city-wide inspection network, designed to help drivers monitor passengers via a TV screen and call police to the scene as soon as possible in the case of a robbery or other crime.

This new measure comes as a result of the public's concern about bus security. Since the city banned motor vehicles on its streets as of December 1, 2006, partly to prevent motorcycle-aided robbery of pedestrians from happening, local residents now worry that the move may have forced criminals to ply their trade on buses.

Many local residents have expressed their support for the installation of cameras, as they believe many passengers don't speak out crime for fear of being harmed. Criminals are therefore escaping at will. Now with the help of cameras, police can track down criminals using video footage.

Supporters also argue that bus cameras and public cameras in general are nothing new. They claim that as far as they know, in Britain, 3 million cameras are monitoring people day and night.

However, there are also a large number of opponents to this new measure, most of whom believe that bus cameras can contribute little to crime prevention and that the key to public security is to improve the incident response capability of the police and to severely punish criminals. Besides, this group says bus drivers should also be more responsible and report onboard crimes to the police as soon as possible.

In addition, there are those, most notably women, who are afraid that cameras may offend people's privacy.

Big help for police

Yan Bingwen (www.ycwb.com): Security cameras on buses will help to deter criminals as well as prevent and curb crimes. Besides, once a robbery occurs, videotapes recorded by the cameras will offer strong evidence for the police to find suspects and place the responsibility for reporting the crime on either the bus driver or a designated person.

Actually, there is no need to worry that cameras will offend passengers' privacy. As on roads or squares, a bus is also a public place. If passengers dare do improper things or wear too little on buses, cameras should not be blamed for recording what they see. Of course, making passengers feel at ease on a bus with cameras needs to be taken into account.

Some people are worried that cameras may become an ornament and waste taxpayers' money, as bus drivers and passengers dare not confront criminals on the bus. This is an undeniable problem, but it's impossible to solve all the problems at once, which is true with any issue. Of course a security camera can't eradicate all crimes, but it is an effective way to improve bus security.

Liang Jianfang (China Youth Daily): Will the camera watch system eradicate bus crimes? Of course not. But will it prevent and curb bus crimes? The answer is yes.

In the past, because of a delay in reporting, when the police arrived at the crime scene, criminals had long vanished. Now, bus drivers can alert police immediately after they see a crime, sharply reducing the response time. If constables cooperate with the traffic police, the work can be done much more effectively. In the past, if not caught at the scene, criminals were unlikely to be brought to justice. Nowadays, even if criminals have fled before the police's arrival, the video footage will help to track down suspects.

It's just unrealistic to expect the security cameras to eradicate all crimes on buses, but it surely will help to curb and deter bus crimes. At a time when public security is faced with severe challenges and current preventative measures are not satisfactory, people should try to support this initiative instead of always criticizing the government and the police.

Yi Qifeng (www.cncard.com): I would feel upset if I am watched by cameras without notification; but if I am informed of the existence of a camera and it is used to protect me from being robbed, I would never feel resentful. Personally, I believe it's acceptable to sacrifice some privacy in public places for the sake of safety, as people out in public are unlikely to act in an indecent way. Therefore, it's unnecessary to feel intruded upon by a camera.

In fact, security cameras in public places have triggered debates more than once. Last year, when the Beijing Municipal Government demanded that hotels in the city be equipped with security cameras, strong opposition erupted from those who thought their privacy would be invaded. Even at that time, I thought these people valued their "privacy" too much. In my opinion, when the cameras are installed for people's safety and people are informed of the existence of this system, it's quite acceptable.

Security cameras will help to prevent crimes or provide clues for the police if my purse is stolen. Hence, I will feel grateful to the camera that probes into my "privacy."

More to security than cameras

Pei Jiaojian (www.zjol.com.cn): To equip buses with security cameras seems a good idea, as the security link will make it possible for the police to get to the crime scene as soon as possible. However, I can't see much significance in this design, as criminals will not wait for the police to arrive, no matter how fast the response is. On the other hand, we can't help feeling worried that people's privacy may be offended, as the cameras mounted high in the carriage not only monitor the whole bus, but could also intrude on a woman's body in summer.

The best way to curb onboard crimes is to make buses less crowded. If buses are not always overloaded, criminals will find buses unsuitable places to commit crimes. More importantly, if there are more plain-clothes policemen patrolling on the buses, the security will also improve. Bus cameras, however, can do nothing but cost taxpayers money and offend passengers' privacy.

Da Yashan (Sanqin City Daily): It's true that monitoring cameras are helpful to improving security conditions in public places, but this method seems too simplistic. Crime has moved from the streets, which now have security cameras, to buses. With bus cameras, crime may be moved elsewhere. Will every public place one day be decorated by cameras as the trend continues? Does it mean that if there is a camera network, there will be no crime? Of course not. It is a great pity that cameras are seen as the last straw by the police to improve public security, as they realize they can't offer 100 percent safety to residents.

In some places, omnipresent cameras are annoying people. Whatever objectives the police hope to achieve, the protection of privacy must be the first priority. To install cameras everywhere is actually abusing limited public resources and wasting taxpayers' money, rather than enhancing local security.

Public security is a complicated issue, which depends not on cameras, but on the improvement of the whole crime prevention network, the legal system, the public's awareness of active involvement in crime crackdown and the reinforcement of the police force.

La Zi (www.ycwb.com): Security cameras have existed for a long time. Take Guangzhou, for example. This city has long been thickly dotted with cameras. However, facts show that the real improvement of security in this city should be attributed to the comprehensive efforts put in place. In the Liuhua area for instance, it is the police buildup and the clearance of criminal factors in the surrounding environment that have contributed to the improved security. Without these efforts, cameras are just ornaments. At least, this is the case in Liuhua. Without the concerted efforts of people, electronic monitoring and recording is useless. Now, 50 percent of Guangzhou's major streets have already been equipped with an electronic monitoring system and it is said that soon the coverage rate will rise to 90 percent.

To install bus cameras is a good idea, but cameras are unreliable without the active involvement of people.