We all know the significance of the role a surveillance video plays when it comes to preventing crimes. However, in the event of any misfortune, the recordings play an extremely important role. It has been evident that with the help of CCTV installation, the crime rates in a lot of regions like Asia, Europe, and America have reduced, Jewitt (2007). On the other hand, there is a recurring debate regarding their usefulness in crime prevention where it has been argued that due to a certain comfort based on CCTV’s utilization, the confidence in their effectiveness has been lost.

CCTV Effectiveness

There have been numerous studies on analyzing the evidence of the usefulness of CCTVs, turns out that they are quite effective even though earlier studies were not able to conclude factual information. This has changed over time, and in an analytical study by Whatworks back in 2013, it was concluded that crimes at both national and local levels reduced to quite an extent except for the unfortunate violent scenes.

It was also evident that they were more useful when it came to unplanned crimes, unlike the planned ones where the criminals planned and carried out their criminal activity bearing in mind the presence of CCTVs. The efficacy subsided in instances like theft by the means of breaking in where the criminals may possibly unplug CCTV cable or simply block the camera by any other means.

Furthermore, a decrease in automobile crimes indicated the productivity of CCTV’s increased installation.

Effectiveness in Public Places

Outdoor effectiveness is usually determined by the impact of CCTV installation against the crimes or in preventing crimes in public areas such as car parking, pavements, roads, city center, or any other public spot. In a research paper by Welsh, B (2004) and Farrington, D (2004), it has been concluded that the outdoor effectiveness of the CCTVs can be enhanced by the amalgamation of better lighting of the roads.

Effectiveness for private owners

Indoor effectiveness is equally important for both businesses and homeowners as neither of them would jeopardize their safety or possessions at any cost. It is in fact worth noting that the number of CCTV cameras installed by private owners has outnumbered public ones. While there are numerous approaches with which CCTV installation efficacy can be implied, however, we have listed a few of them as follows:

Clear evidence: CCTV enables the chances of criminals getting caught red-handed with clear evidence for reporting purposes.

Criminal Identification: The recording enables to recognize and identify the criminal unquestionably.

Concealed corners: Installing CCTVs in concealed corners may help trace evidence in locations that are used as an entry to exit access points by criminals.

Secured community: It often has been observed that the localities or neighborhoods where there are a large number of CCTVs installed are less prone to criminal activities. The people living in such localities tend to feel more secured as criminals avoid targeting any neighborhood where both public and private-owned CCTVs are present.

Thus, it can be concluded that over the period of time, CCTVs have one way or another proved to be effective in reducing the number of crimes.

References:

Jewitt, C. 2007, CCTV network overhaul in a bid to cut crime, Darlington (UK), United Kingdom, Darlington (UK).