In George Orwell’s seminal work, 1984, he predicts the surveillance state and describes the ‘telescreen’, a device installed in every citizen’s home that can simultaneously transmit and receive audio and video. Fast forward 75 years and we're living in an age where many governments have instituted mass surveillance systems.
Security cameras are meant to deter as much as they record, and for every camera out there, there’s someone watching the feed. When a netizen took to Reddit to ask for the craziest things security personnel had caught people doing on camera, the responses rolled in. Explore the top 30 in this listicle!
More info: Reddit
#1
Two police officers brought a guy they were transporting in handcuffs into our store so he could use the toilets, only one exit at the time so they waited for him at the front doors, on his way out of the toilet he walks over to the sandwich fridge and conceals a sandwich into his jacket, literally shoplifting while under arrest.
Image credits: Theliminal
#2
Watched it after the fact because we had to show the police. There was a girl selling those charity chocolate bars outside. Security would ask for their credentials which was a card with their org and supervisor. When she was asked she bolted across the parking lot and into the street. She ran in front of an 18-wheeler and got run over. It was all caught on camera. She somehow survived but I think she had broken legs. Turns out she was a young looking 30 year old woman who stole the box of chocolate bars and charity collection box from a little girl earlier that night.
Image credits: paidjannie
#3
So many. Was a loss prevention manager in retail in a past life. Saw a woman change her baby's s****y diaper inside a round coat rack, using the coats to wipe the baby. Saw a thief conceal a boom box between her legs under a full flounced prairie skirt and walk normally through the length of the store and right out the front door. Saw a clocked-in male employee sleep through an entire shift on the top rack of shelving in a stock room. Let him sleep and kept the camera recording for 5+ hours.
Image credits: Ruby-Skylar
When netizen TeeKay4273 reached out to the Reddit community inviting them to share their stories, not much could have prepared them for the slew of crazy, funny, and downright weird things people have been caught doing in public when they thought nobody was watching. From driving around throwing slices of cheese at cars to crashing a helicopter during a hover test, you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.
#4
Family member worked at a parking garage. She found a gun at work one day in the garbage and decided to look at their footage to see how it got there. Never did find out but they did learn that a naked man with a cone hat and wand was doing some sort of "ceremony" on the roof of the garage.
Image credits: gbell11
#5
>Had a guy skip out out in the middle of the second night of training.
Had an issue with a new guard on site apparently not realizing he was on camera. I was doing a second night of training with the guy, asked him if he was comfortable with the rounds, guy says yeah and wanders off to do a round solo.
So I'm watching cameras and monitoring the phone, I see guard walk by, he stops, ok he seems a bit lost but it happens to all of us... Dude sticks his hand down the front of his pants and just goes to town. He is digging his crotch for about 30 or so seconds, he then walks down the hall and into the kitchen. So guy returns to the desk and tries to hand me the keys, I tell him due to covid we are to sanitize keys when they change hands, so I douse those things with Lysol like my life depended on it.
We are sitting and he is asking me questions, soon the questions turn to the cameras on each floor. He is pointing at each and asking where they are... We get to the one and I tell him it is located right outside the kitchens. Dude just stares blankly at me for a second and then asks if he can go out for a smoke break. I tell him that we are a smoke free facility so if he wants to smoke he will have to go across the street where the nurses go. He says cool, back in 5... Never see the guy again. Told the supervisor the next morning when he asked how training went. The company couldn't reach him and apparently never got uniforms back.
Image credits: CylonsInAPolicebox
#6
Some guy driving around throwing cheese slices on cars at 2:00 am.
Image credits: The68Guns
While there are plenty of cameras in the West, it's worth taking a closer look at the state of surveillance in China, the most advanced and widespread worldwide.
It’s estimated that China’s mass surveillance system, “Skynet”, consists of over 540 million closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. That’s more than half of all CCTV cameras on the planet (or roughly one camera for every 2.7 citizens) and more than the number listed in this 2023 article by The Economist.
#7
Luxury cruise line for older folks. Loooooooads of old people walking the hallways naked disconnected from the world on sleeping meds.
Image credits: Squarerigjack
#8
I worked IT for a lumber company and had to submit 2 specific videos to our legal department, which unfortunately resulted in me having to watch the events to capture the video clips. They are forever etched in my mind.
#1. Bunk lumber was being unloaded from a flatbed trailer as the driver was on the driver side collecting his tie-down straps. Forklift driver was picking lumber from the opposite side and his forks inadvertently shoved an entire bunk of joists on top of the unaware driver. He unfortunately died of his injuries.
#2. Saw operator reaching across a stack of lumber in the saw and losing his arm just above the elbow. I'll never forget the moment of shock as he just stood there holding his severed arm for what seemed like an eternity.
Image credits: g33kd4d
This sprawling network of cameras comes equipped with sophisticated facial recognition technology that can match people’s faces with government databases of biometric info, including DNA. It’s so cutting-edge that it can ID individuals in real-time, at various angles and lighting levels, and even in a crowd.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration plays a critical role in helping humans analyze the mountains of footage the system is capturing. AI algorithms detect behavior such as loitering, littering, and the gathering of crowds.
#9
I realized how bad the bald spot on the back of my head was.
Image credits: SadShoe27
#10
A big woman was in the produce area. She picked a grape from a bag, dropped it on the floor, and used her foot to smash it. THEN LAID DOWN ON THE GROUND and started screaming.
Image credits: theoriginalmypooper
Going beyond facial recognition, the country has also developed gait recognition technology, which can spot a person based on their walking pattern, allowing for identification even when the person’s face is obscured with say, a facemask, prevalent on the faces of Chinese citizens.
Skynet’s cameras are also capable of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), allowing the government to monitor traffic, enforce tolls, and track persons of interest.
All of this surveillance has led to the development of smart cities, where footage is combined with data from a variety of sources to make city management systems more efficient.
#11
Parents hitting their children when they think no one is looking. Saw a woman grab and twist her small child's ear so she could get attention when it started crying. She walked into the adjoining room and started hushing the child saying she must have an ear ache just to get sympathy from other parents present.
Image credits: Xenovitz
#12
I installed a bunch of CCTV cameras in a large berry packing facility. I was there for a couple of weeks for commissioning.
One evening a black bear wanders into the plant through one of the forklift doors (they just have the clear vinyl 'curtains' when operating) The bear finds a stack of freshly-picked berries that hadn't yet been processed and just goes to town. After about 20 minutes I guess they had enough and left the way they came.
Another installation at a bar: A bunch of guys are at a table and a lady enters and heads over to their table in an attempt to sell her wares. Flashes them a couple times, tries to get one guy to feel her up. Seems like they were uninterested in free samples.
Did an install at a hotel several months after an incident with Disney on Ice skaters streaking throughout the building. Apparently the real reason for the camera install was an arson in the underground parking.
Image credits: Rampage_Rick
But what about the social impact of all this surveillance? How do people cope with always being watched?
Not well, it seems. In his 2014 article for The Guardian, Adam Gabbatt reported on tens of thousands of people and organizations participating in a global protest in a response to whistleblower Edward Snowden's leak that the National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on millions of citizens.
#13
Popped in on a courthouse security monitoring area to fix a computer. Camera guy said "watch this", drunk guy gets in his car scrapes up the car next to him and tries to run. They were monitoring because the judge in his DUI case called to have him arrested for a DUI on a suspended license in the courthouse parking lot.
Image credits: marmot1101
#14
I worked at a university and saw this guy and girl, both employees at the library, [being intimate] on one of the couches.
When he came to return the keys me and all the other guards just started laughing.
Image credits: SteelBrightblade1
11 years later, however, Snowden remains exiled somewhere in Moscow and US intelligence still collects vast amounts of private electronically stored and transmitted information.
So, the next time you feel the urge to dance like nobody’s watching, perhaps it would be best to do it with your clothes on and an eye out for any lenses lurking in corners.
Have you ever been caught on camera doing something silly? Or have you spotted anything crazy on your own CCTV? Let us know in the comments!
#15
A girl taking a dump in a stairwell of a parking garage... No wipes or anything..
And old man standing still in a casino lobby... After a moment he shakes his leg and out drops a couple s**t nuggets... He walks on into the casino..
Image credits: Bizzlebanger
#16
At my previous job the maintenance guy asked me to check the cameras to see why the cigarette urn thing was partially missing one morning.
Cameras showed a guy walk up at like 2AM, take it apart, and then sit for 10 minutes smoking nasty used butts from it before walking off with the bucket.
Image credits: CRCs_Reality
#17
So much nose picking.
Image credits: Mister_Brevity
#18
Had a friend renting a room at my house while in University.
On my home exterior camera, I found out that after I went to bed, he had a special friend over. And said friend stayed in his bedroom until I left for work in the morning, and then the camera showed the friend departing. Almost every night of the week.
I tried to act surprised when he came out to me a few months later.
Image credits: gachunt
#19
Working graveyards one night I noticed a guy near one of the entrances acting strange… anyways the regular newspaper guy came by and hopped out of his car to make deliveries.. nutty buddy hopped into his car and drove off. Lucky for paper boy he was able to flag down a cop and it was resolved shortly after. Cops even came in to get footage from us since I concentrated our camera on the entire thing.
Image credits: ghetto_alchemy
#20
Worst? Guy in a fancy convertible tried to out-speed another car, hit a fire hydrant, flipped the car…the top was down and I’m glad I didn’t see details.
But most common is how people sneak into back rooms for theft/shoplifting. You’ll see someone just dead still on one side of the room or in a side hallway while people just walk past, oblivious to someone like 10 feet away from them. Very horror movie.
Image credits: Time-Space-Anomaly
#21
Couple doing Doggy style in front of The Rockefeller Christmas Tree, At 2 am .-- We were laughing it was freezing out.
Image credits: Difficult_Committee5
#22
Fellow coworker (contractor) was sneaking up on me in security office. They didn't know that I could see their every move, from start to finish, on cctv. When he was done I told him we had a camera everywhere he went.
Image credits: anon
#23
Helicopter crash on its hover test. Literally the first time the helicopter leaves the ground. Bye $12 million!
Image credits: Semyaz
#24
Warehouse supervisor here. Watched an suv crash the gate, drive up to a dock door, pry it open with a crowbar, and climb inside. There, they started looking through products in lower locations and grabbing as many laptops as he could carry back to the dock, where the other guy was waiting to load them up. After two armfuls the cops showed up. Unfortunately they won’t chase, so the guys were able to flee. In fact, the last cop car to come in the gate GOT OUT OF THEIR WAY so they could exit the way they came in and not have to just ram another gate/fence.
Image credits: DickButkisses
#25
I used to be an inventory manager and often used our camera system to solve mysteries. I'd be watching for suspected shoplifting incidents and would usually just see people blowing their nose into their hands and wiping in on product and shelves.
Image credits: theevilnarwhale
#26
We had this guy who all the girls at my job thought was so freakin dreamy. He was good looking, very sweet, very friendly. We watched him get in a fight and choke someone to sleep one day in the gym.
Image credits: glitterpumps
#27
Saw a somewhat elderly man fall about three stories to his death. But at least I wasn’t the guy who got posted to the security post right beside where that man fell.
Image credits: zool714
#28
Ive seen drunk people get into a full on brawl outside a wedding on our security camera, a full on throwing punches, attempting takedowns, one of the guys was gushing before I sent anyone, I had to send 4 security guards to attempt to break it up. It then turned into a full on brawl with the security guards and the people there who had gathered plus the guys fighting so eventually the cops had to come arrest a whole handful of people. I think something like 7 or 8 people were arrested.
A bonus story. The other crazy incident we had was a car parked outside, this car had been sitting running for the better part of 4 hours. I noticed it on camera but thought none of it, as were a hotel. Sometimes people park and sit in their cars for a bit and leave, it happens. I got a complaint about it thought and went to investigate bc now I had to, I arrived at the car to see an older gentleman with his face pressed against his glass. It appeared he was sleeping so i knocked on the glass a few times to no response at all, I would open it but I work in the city, And I learned the hard way you dont open peoples doors especially car doors when ur alone, it can go very bad. So I called the cops, turns out he had a heart attack and died right there in his car. What a sad s****y way to go out.
Image credits: Puzzled-Ad-2339
#29
The CEO having an affair with an employee.
Image credits: Seann7656
#30
Men mooning the cameras.
Image credits: tnmatthewallen
