Making Public Places Safer: Surveillance and Crime PreventionThe United Kingdom has more than 4.2 million public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras--one for every fourteen citizens. Across the United States, hundreds of video surveillance systems are being installed in town centers, public transportation facilities, and schools at a cost exceeding $100 million annually. And now other Western countries have begun to experiment with CCTV to prevent crime in public places. In light of this expansion and the associated public expenditure, as well as pressing concerns about privacy rights, there is an acute need for an evidence-based approach to inform policy and practice. Drawing on the highest-quality research, criminologists Brandon C. Welsh and David P. Farrington assess the effectiveness and social costs of not only CCTV, but also of other important surveillance methods to prevent crime in public space, such as improved street lighting, security guards, place managers, and defensible space. Importantly, the book goes beyond the question of "Does it work?" and examines the specific conditions and contexts under which these surveillance methods may have an effect on crime as well as the mechanisms that bring about a reduction in crime. At a time when cities need cost-effective methods to fight crime and the public gradually awakens to the burdens of sacrificing their privacy and civil rights for security, Welsh and Farrington provide this timely and reliable guide to the most effective and non-invasive uses of surveillance to make public places safer from crime. |
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12 months Desirable active monitoring analysis Camera Coverage car parks CCTV cameras CCTV evaluations CCTV schemes chapter city and town closed-circuit television closures or barricades control area cost-benefit cost-benefit analysis crime decreased crime in public crime rates Crime total criminologist David defensible space displacement effect on crime effect size effective in preventing effective in reducing effectiveness of CCTV evaluation research experimental areas compared Farrington formal surveillance forms of surveillance Gill and Spriggs improved lighting improved street lighting included increased inner-city neighborhoods light pollution measures of crime meta-analysis Monsey months Desirable effect natural surveillance Null effect number of crimes odds ratio place managers potential offenders prevent crime property crimes public area surveillance public settings reducing crime reduction in crime reported security guards situational crime prevention social costs Stoke-on-Trent street closures surveillance technique systematic review thefts tion total and types town centers types of offenses United Kingdom vehicle crimes violent crime