Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Why has the United Kingdom adopted CCTV technology with such enthusiasm and how effective is it as a means of crime prevention?

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

SCS1007 120164752 Why has the United Kingdom adopted CCTV technology with such enthusiasm and how effective is it as a means of crime prevention? There has been a dramatic rise in the use of closed circuit television in the most recent decades not only in the United Kingdom, but also globally and has been a significant aspect in many crime prevention programmes. This has mainly been due to increases in fear of general crime and growing demand for crime prevention. And so, CCTV was ?sold to the public on the basis that it is a friendly eye in the sky? (Norris et al 1998 p. 15) helping to both reduce crime and the fear of it. In accordance with Weiss?s classifications (1987), CCTV is regarded as a primary crime prevention activity and is focused more so on the offence as opposed to the offender, concentrating on the immediate situation of the offence. Primary prevention strategies, like CCTV, aim to help reduce the opportunities and likelihood of crime being committed simply by increasing the risk to the offender. However, the effectiveness of CCTV technology can be placed under scrutiny and it is questionable how useful it is as a means of crime prevention. ...read more.

Middle

By 2000, 13 independently conducted studies had taken place (Coleman and Norris 2000 p.165.) Two examples which indicated that CCTV was particularly successful in reducing crime are Airdrie (1993) and Newcastle and Kings Lynn (1995.) In 1993, The Scottish Office commissioned research into the effectiveness of CCTV in helping to reduce crime and minimise the fear of crime amongst the population. 12 cameras were placed on open streets in Airdrie town centre. 2 years after the implementation of the cameras, 21% fewer crimes where recorded when compared to the two years prior to the CCTV installation, which clearly highlights a substantial reduction of almost a quarter. Further to this, crimes of dishonesty which include shoplifting and house robbery saw the most significant reduction of 48%. Altogether, since the CCTV scheme was introduced, the police were able to clear up 16% more crimes and offences.[1] However, Coleman and Norris (2000) noted that despite the clear reductions in some areas, there were increases in crime levels for different offences such as drug dealing and minor traffic violations. Similarly, Brown (1995) reported similar findings to those witnessed in Airdrie in Newcastle and Kings Lynn. ...read more.

Conclusion

CCTV technology is fairly effective as a means of crime prevention but it is not entirely beneficial and there have been some negative impacts witnessed. CCTV can both reduce and increase the amount of crime recorded in areas which makes it extremely problematic to determine exactly how effective it is. CCTV has undoubtedly aided in reducing levels of crime and helping to catch criminals in the areas in which they are situated, however previously unreported crimes are now recorded due to more schemes being implemented, which therefore has an adverse impact on crime rates. The small scale studies which have investigated the effectiveness of CCTV as a method of crime prevention have often been inconclusive or contradictory as crime displacement occurs or the numbers of other crimes increase. However, most have shared the conclusion that CCTV has helped to reduce some crime. As Welsh and Farrington (2002 p.45) discussed, if the government were to introduce or improve any more CCTV schemes they should be ?carefully implemented in different settings and should employ high quality evaluation designs with long follow-up periods.? Furthermore, the schemes should only be implemented if high quality, scientific evidence suggests that CCTV would be beneficial and effective. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our University Degree Criminology section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related University Degree Criminology essays

  1. street robbery in britain

    The researchers fail to address in detail how the data obtained was analysed. As this research is qualitative, the biographical method could be used as an alternative strategy to semi-structured interviews as the interviewer is able to probe into the participant's life history and experiences.

  2. Compare positivist approaches to crime with at least two other perspectives discussed in the ...

    As conflict theory began to have a significant influence on criminology studies, several respected scholars were inspired by the writings of Dahrendorf and Vold. For instance, William Chambliss and Robert Seidman focused on: * 'Describing how the control of the political and economic system affects how the criminal justice system operates.

  1. Comparative policing systems

    Also in Turkey, "more recently, with the increased quality of the police training and education, the rising numbers of commissioners and officers receiving masters and doctorates (some on topics including human rights law, technologically more advanced crime-fighting methods, etc.) and the positive impact of EU twinning projects, a younger reformist wing seems to have emerged within the police.

  2. How can research and evidence based practice inform effective interventions with substance misusing offenders?

    (Britton and Pamneja, 2000:5) and clearly further efforts need to be made to streamline service provision. The above provisions may divert many offenders from the usual criminal justice process which will reduce the strain on the provision of services by the Probation Service, but lessons from best practice may be

  1. PRISONS: AMERICAS CRIMINAL WAREHOUSES. Recent budget crises and the rapid increase of incarceration ...

    were built to help inmates and spread the medical model of prison. Many leaders welcomed the new philosophy on prisons and its inmates, but others did not believed in the medical model, nor did they accept the idea of "gentle" incarceration.

  2. Imprisonment should only be used as a last resort due to its long-term negative ...

    Incarceration does not regard the removal of a parent, but the imprisonment of an offender, whereby they become socially and psychologically altered as a result of that incarceration (Austin and Irwin, 2001). It is those alterations that can have long-term negative effects both during incarceration and beyond; but not just

  1. Perceptions of wrongful convictions amongst Americans working in the criminal justice system.

    Almost 20 years ago Rattner (1983) asked these types of questions in a survey of criminal justice professionals. The sample surveyed included Ohio presiding judges of county common pleas courts, county prosecuting attorneys, county public defenders, county sheriffs, and chiefs of police in major Ohio cities; also surveyed were attorney generals from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

  2. Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield. Since being convicted of his crimes, Ed ...

    This is most likely what drove George to becoming a bigger alcoholic and abusive individual. (Tru) The year that Ed was born, Augusta took it upon herself to provide for the family by opening a grocery store in La Crosse.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work