The Observation of Harry

On my walk this morning I met Harry. Not wanting to repeat Harry's story which I have blogged before, let me just say that Harry migrated from Germany in 1952 and worked for the Victorian railways for all his subsequent working life until retirement, and he will be 75 this year. We talked about the weather and concurred that the temperature when each of us checked our thermometers when we began our walks today was 25C. There was more cloud about and we didn't think it would be as hot as yesterday's 40C.
Harry then told me that yesterday he received a letter from a police sargeant in Kew saying that his car had been 'observed' on the road and it was noted that his car registration plate was difficult to read. He couldn't understand this, he'd looked at it and it seemed fine to him , easy to read. It irritated him as he thought he would have to pay for new plates, unless, as he said, there was some other reason such as something on his car, or a reflection from it, that restricted clear vision of his plates from a certain angle.
I made a bit of a joke that "they are watching you Harry", saying it was important that the police could track who was who, and their criminal history, available at the push of a PC button in their police car. I said they could check his record and have all his misdemeanors there on the screen in seconds. Harry said, "I may have had a parking ticket once but I've never been booked by the police, not for speeding or anything."
It's interesting if you think about it.
After police were attacked in Noble Park recently when they tried to confiscate vehicles under the hoon laws, the media report said police were going to talk with the Dandenong Council about the possibility of installing surveillance cameras in the streets and also 'no standing' signs, to prevent people and cars congregating.
It seems that Harry, and all us, are going to be 'observed' by cameras more not less as time goes by. It's silly really, because bad guys just get phoney, altered, or stolen plates, and wear disguise, if they're up to serious mischief.