The Effects of CCTV on Crime – A Review published by The College of Policing

Recently the College of Policing published a summary of a review into the effectiveness of CCTV, titled ‘The effects of CCTV on Crime – What Works Briefing’; and brief and to the point it most certainly is!  I might add that it looks at CCTV systems that have been installed in town centres, residential areas and car parks as a situational crime prevention measure, rather than those used covertly to gather evidence or the cameras you might have around your home.

It’ll take you about 8 minutes to read, but could potentially spark hours of conversation!

The results of the review were:

• Car Parks: Marked and statistically significant reduction in vehicle related crime, but in the six studies the CCTV was accompanied by improvements in lighting and increased security staff
• Town centres: Small reduction in crime, but not statistically significant enough to draw conclusions about the effects of CCTV
• Public Transport: The combined results of 4 studies showed a significant decrease in crime, but this was driven almost entirely by the system introduced onto the London Underground.  ‘Overall the findings are ambiguous and not statistically significant’.
• Public Housing Estates:  Small reduction in crime, but not statistically significant.

Another interesting finding is that whilst it seems to reduce car crime it does not reduce violence.  But then violence often involves people who are drunk and irrational and wouldn’t think about their actions being captured on CCTV.

The briefings conclusions however seem to be more upbeat than the findings, which I found a little strange.

What is not commented upon (or at least I didn’t see it) was the help it can give police officers who have been directed to a suspect or the scene of the crime.  The CCTV operator can sometimes let the police know important information about the suspect’s description or whether he or she might be armed and so is an invaluable tool for police officers’ safety.

Annoyingly the briefing mentions that there is little research to show whether CCTV is helping the police solve crime – which is extremely disappointing when you consider how many millions has been spent on it!

Overall I am a pro-CCTV person, but as the briefing says ‘CCTV is likely to work better [at preventing crime] as part of a wider strategic approach’, which means that CCTV alone will not do the job.

I think we already knew that though.