I've seen a trend towards relying on security cameras as a primary tool in the fight against crime.
This trend has really taken off over the past decade, and with improved technology I don't expect this reliance to go away any time soon. But wait I do have some words of caution to all those camera-loving clients; don't judge a book by its cover.
Close Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) and I have had a love-hate relationship for the past ten since I've become an officer. I love the fact that it's a valuable investigative tool and hate that it gives people a false sense of security. Commercial victims of B&Es often immediately say, "I'm putting in cameras!"
Cst. Khoa N. Hoang
Far too often victims of crime have called for CCTVs as their saviour from future victimization. The idea that a camera will stop someone from undesirable behaviour makes some sense to me, but not much beyond that. Crime prevention is about understanding motive and curbing desires to carry out anti-social acts.
Most of us, from the perfect goody two-shoes to the average Joe would agree that we don't ever want to be caught on camera doing something bad. But we're also not the type to break into homes and vandalize property.
Recent studies have shown that cameras are effective at first, like a novelty. Even criminals don't know how to respond to them at first. But after a short period of time, cameras blend into the background of daily life and do little to deter crime.
The United Kingdom estimates that they have anywhere up to 60,000 CCTVs operating within their boundaries, a world leader in use of cameras in an attempt to protect its citizens. But their rate of success is debatable at best.
Most criminals list cameras at the very bottom of their concerns when assessing risk. Cameras are extremely limited in their ability to adapt to an environment and are vulnerable to lighting, picture quality, angles, distance, disguise, and malfunction. More importantly, if you are watching a crime happen, you have failed to prevent the crime.
So why the rise in CCTV popularity over the past decade? Perhaps it has something to do with our technology-obsessed society, or fear-based marketing, or maybe the hope to have a quick fix to a difficult problem.
The long term crime prevention solution is not simple. It's multi-dimensional and involves every single citizen doing their part to make it work. The police must buy into prevention instead of typical reaction, the public must actively participate, and the fundamental infrastructure for a healthy society must be implemented by politicians.
All this takes time, and too many of us would rather invest time at work making money instead of in our own neighbourhoods. But what about cost? The cost of crime can be quite high and sometimes with lasting effects. So it's time we all did our part no matter how little the role.
As Henrik Ibsen stated, "a community is like a ship, everyone ought to be ready to take the helm."