New cameras going up in Britain claim to be able to “predict” if a crime is about to happen. The cameras monitor activities to alert operators to suspicious behavior–such as loitering, unusually slow walking, or even joyriding. The operators can then notify the police, who may question the suspicious individuals about their behavior.

Councillor Jason Fazackarley of Portsmouth Council said: ‘It’s the 21st century equivalent of a night watchman, but unlike a night watchman it never blinks, it never takes a break and it never gets bored.’

The whole set up may remind some people of Tom Cruise’s science-fiction film Minority Report, in which authorities arrest people before they’ve even committed a planned crime. But Britain’s latest move is no fiction story, and critics fear such extensive monitoring is just another step toward making Britain a surveillance society entirely.

And yet there are those who find the increasing surveillance almost comforting. As one individual commented, “I think the cameras are needed. Young boys are always up to no good in my neighborhood. I feel safer with the cameras. We need more, possibly.”