This article considers and early example of technologically-mediated visual surveillance: the use of cine cameras by the British police in 1935 in the English town of Chesterfield in an operation to crack down on illegal street betting. The paper argues that the operation and its consequences in the judicial system illustrate a number of issues: unreliable policing on the ground; the enthusiasm for technological approaches to crime; and the limits of those approaches. The paper concludes that the Chesterfield case should prompt us to take another look at the impact of technology on interwar British policing, and its relationship to surveillance.

*This article is accompanied by a digititally-converted version of the 1935 film, which can be viewed by clicking on Supplementary Material in the right hand column, or by visiting our Blip TV stream. Please also see the MACE archive, which was essential to the completion of this piece