French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked with security forces gestures, as he arrives outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan 7th

French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked with security forces gestures, as he arrives outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan 7th AP

Here’s Why Security Cameras Were No Help In Capturing Paris Terrorists

The City of Light is rather dark when it comes to close-circuit security cameras. In the wake of a terrorist attack, what does that mean? By Patrick Tucker

The following story has been updated.

In the aftermath of the terrorist massacre on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, the world is demanding answers. How was it possible that, in a country where guns are heavily regulated, a group of men were able to get their hands on Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-47s, and, possibly, a rocket propelled grenade launcher? What happened to the famously effective French intelligence service? And, most importantly, how was it possible to pull off such an attack in the middle of downtown Paris and then get away via car? Should not a network of closed circuit security cameras been trained on the attackers as they attempted to make their escape?

Update: FRANCE 24 now reports that police have raided a house in Reims in connection with the attack. Arrest warrants have been issued for Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his 34-year-old brother Said Kouachi. A third suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad from Reims, has reportedly surrendered to police.

Paris is indeed a city with many cameras, but not as many as you might think, and not nearly as many as you might encounter in a city like London. In Paris, the presence of cameras is more controversial.

In 2012, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë of the Socialist Party announced an increase in the number of closed-circuit cameras in downtown Paris by more than 1,100. It was part of a broader plan that the French government voted on in 2007. At the time, there were more than 13,000 cameras in Paris, but these were primarily for traffic enforcement, not watching for crime, according to the French website Owni.

“The goal of the plan was to make public spaces—from shopping and residential areas to public transportation—safer without violating citizens’ civil liberties. In concrete terms, this meant that the city needed to install more video surveillance cameras, restructure coverage of the entire city, and modernize its control system,” the company Citelum, tasked with the implementation of the plan, explains in this release.

A broad plurality of French supported the idea of more cameras in public spaces, but the plan met with resistance from Delanoë’s allies on the political left. Green party councilperson Sylvain Garel told French news outlet FRANCE 24 “We’re heading toward a ‘Big Brother’ world...I don’t want a camera to film me when I’m out in the street buying the newspaper.”

Officials close to Delanoë rebuffed the idea that city had either the will or the ability to turn Paris into a city like London, long said to be the most surveiled city in the world. The problem wasn't civil liberty but management scaling. In London, “there are far too many cameras, far too many images, too many to be looked at,” Delanoë’s security advisor Myriam el-Khomri told FRANCE 24. One day, better image analytics will cut down on that work load. In the meantime, the dilemma of too much footage, too few eyes remains an unfortunate, but typical, big data problem.

In the 11th arrondissement, where Charlie Hebdo’s main offices are located, there were plans for 2.8 cameras for every 10,000 people in 2012. Compare that to London, where there’s a camera for every 11 people. Do they do any good? In the U.K., the utility of the cameras for actually solving crimes is a matter of some debate.

The most important piece of video imagery to emerge from the siege, at least in the hours after the event occurred, was taken on a phone belonging to a person near the scene. The attackers’ escape route from Charlie Hebdo headquarters likely proceeded along the Boulevards Richard Lenoir and de Voltaire, where the city has planted several CCTV cameras, at least according to this map from Owni. More footage could emerge soon. 

At very least, the people of Paris may become more welcoming of London-style cameras in the months ahead. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.