Friday funday: video gaga

The lighter side of local government

Many years ago - the London Borough of Brent was one of the first councils in the country (the world?) to use a webcam as part of its regular service. The webcam was used in the wedding room - and it was a way for families - often located around the world to share in the newlyweds' joy. The camera is still there.

I remember it because I worked at Brent at the time. Although we looked at the wedding webcam out of a sense of novelty - we really didn't need it. Our offices overlooked the arriving brides and grooms - which was always a treat. We saw big fluffy white wedding gowns, beautiful red Indian saris, and some wedding outfits that defy categorisation (e.g. the woman who wore a gold bikini and then strategically draped herself with golden gauze).

Cradle to grave
At least one South London nursery operates a webcam for nervous parents. And now there's a webcam for end-of-life, too. Peterborough City Council has started a webcam service at its crematorium.

Families will pay £45 to allow friends and relatives to view services at the council run crematorium in Peterborough, Cambs. Crematorium bosses are offering a DVD or video for an extra £25

Although it sounds a trifle ghoulish, I can well imagine that it's a service that could bring a lot of comfort to some. In the weeks following her father's funeral (my granddad) my aunt listened to a recording of the service over and over when she was on the road.

Canned cam
Anderson County, Tennessee installed a webcam in its jails. I'm sorry I missed that - because now the service has been canned. (Plus - as it's where my dad grew up - I might have seen someone I knew!)

Some viewers have been using the cameras to harass female jailers by calling them on the telephone and taunting them as they work, according to Anderson County sheriff's officials. In other cases, viewers are tracking inmate movements and using the information to coordinate deliveries of contraband to prisoners on work details outside the jail.

Yikes!! According to webcam's site -

The department has been pleased with the popularity of the cam over the past few years, but Sheriff White noted that safety and security must take a priority

...and on the right side of the law
According to The Guardian, the Police are using the free online video service YouTube to nab recruits rather than criminals.

Videos of police officers in action are being broadcast on an internet site more used to Beadle's About style footage, in a bid to improve the force's image and attract new recruits. Videos of West Yorkshire officers patrolling the streets and talking about their work nestle alongside clips titled "policeman shoots himself in foot" and "**** the police" on the YouTube site which has tapped into the legal side of the "happy slapping", video phone carrying youth culture.

But the force's web communications manager, Patrick Brooke, says the police no longer feels threatened by such juxtaposition. "There was a time when we would have insisted our videos were safely tucked away on our own site, but not now," he said.

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