Formal Surveillance

Introduction

Formal surveillance deploys specialist personnel or technology which can increase the risk of potential offenders getting caught, therefore deterring them from engaging in criminal activity (Lindblom and Kajalo 2011). In Starley Cross, we will increase formal surveillance by installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras (Lindblom and Kajalo 2011). The CCTV cameras will mainly be placed around the Manor Estate and Church Street/Hall Street area, where crime rates are highest.

CCTV

CCTV cameras record footage in order to monitor a desired area, therefore increasing an offender’s risk of detection when engaging in crime (CCTV 2012; Welsh and Farrington 2009). As well as deterring crime, CCTV can be used to help catch criminals as the footage can be used as identification; this is an added bonus of using CCTV (Welsh and Farrington 2009; Armitage, Smyth and Pease 1999).

Clarke (1997) states that multiple studies have found CCTV to be effective at reducing crime through deterrence, these are the findings from one such study:

As you can see from the table above, the number of theft offences on the London Underground Railway significantly decreased after the installation of CCTV cameras onboard (Clarke 1983). In a more recent study, 82 convicted burglars were interviewed to investigate the effectiveness of different forms of deterrence (Hearnden and Magill 2004). The results from the study showed that 82% of offenders would be deterred from a burglary if CCTV was present, this suggests that CCTV is an effective crime deterrent (Hearnden and Magill 2004). In Starley Cross we hope CCTV is just as effective at deterring criminal activity.

Potential Issues

A concern with increasing CCTV is that it takes away peoples privacy when carrying out ordinary day to day activities (Clarke 1997; Lyon 1994). Furthermore, CCTV has been criticised for its potential to create a totalitarian society in which the government keeps watch over everyone, restricting peoples freedom (Clarke 1997; Lyon 1994).