The reality of the surveillance state, a society that is always being monitored, has never sat well with some.

According to the latest British Security Industry Authority (BSIA) figures there are nearly five million cameras up and down the country – one for every 14 people.

In the Swale area there are 106 closed circuit television cameras operating in “strategically placed” areas.

Behind a set of wrought-iron blue gates, through a maze of nondescript office corridors, is one room lined with screens casting an uncomfortable glow over its inhabitants.

People whose eyes are glued to individual monitors watching you, watching me, watching everyone.

Henry, who did not want to give his real name, has spent almost every day of the last decade within the dimly lit walls of the Medway Control Centre in Strood.

From the confines of a soft-backed chair he acts as an unofficial police officer – seeing the immediate aftermath of a crime, watching a crime in progress, and, in some cases, seeing one before it even happens.

Not to downplay the importance of his eagle eyes, it is the state-of-the-art technology in use throughout Swale that make his job a possibility. Gone are the grainy, black and white images police used to circulate to catch an offender. In their place are, what head of CCTV at Medway Council Vikram Sahdev, describes as “evidential quality” cameras.

He is proud to say his team are “one step ahead” in harnessing cutting edge technology, and, as such, are a step ahead when it comes to catching wrongdoers.

Real-time images can now be streamed into police cars as they race to the scene. If an officer is chasing a suspect on foot, Henry can speak directly into his or her ear. For example, last year the windows of Swale House were smashed by vandals who were caught just minutes after committing the crime – they had barely run a couple of hundred yards before, with Henry’s help, the police nabbed them.

Of course, it is not all about the excitement of tracking and catching criminals. Henry has also seen his fair share of horror.

He has witnessed what happens where humans are pushed to the edge of their sanity through either anger or desperation – fights he describes as “vicious” and the helplessness he has felt seeing a suicide or attempted suicide.

As cameras are often stationed to overlook railway platforms, Henry has watched as people have purposefully strode up to the edge and leapt to their deaths.

He said: “You have to take yourself away from it. You don’t want to get too emotionally involved.”

Yes, the age of surveillance is upon us. In public we are nearly always being watched. But unless you are up to no good, you have nothing to worry about – at least that’s what Henry and Vikram would tell you.

The control centre covers Swale, Medway, Maidstone and Gravesham.

In the last three years, there have been a total of 740 arrests in the borough as a direct result of CCTV monitoring.

Between April 2011 and March 2012 there were 256 arrests and 2,514 incidents captured on cameras in Swale. In the same period, police took away a total of 328 DVD discs for use as evidence.

More recently, between April 2013 and March 2014 there were 236 arrests and 2,367 incidents and more than 400 discs were used by police. CCTV in these four areas operate 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.