THE government鈥檚 拢25 million programme to introduce closed-circuit TV cameras to combat crime could be a waste of money, according to two independent studies.
The CCTV cameras have been in the vanguard of the government鈥檚 crimebusting campaign. In November, the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, announced that there would be 10 000 more cameras for city centres. Claiming that the cameras 鈥渃an have a startling effect鈥� and that 鈥淐CTV beats crime鈥�, Howard said 鈥渢his massive amount of money shows the government鈥檚 commitment to fighting crime through the latest, state-of-the-art technology鈥�.
Researchers at South Bank University have studied the effect of introducing CCTV for the London Borough of Sutton. The results, due to be published next year, do show a drop of 13 per cent in the number of crimes where the cameras were installed. But elsewhere in the borough, crime fell more sharply. 鈥淐CTV is not a panacea,鈥� the study warns.
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The preliminary findings of a second study, in Airdrie, carried out by the Scottish Centre for Criminology, showed that the number of crimes dropped by 21 per cent following the introduction of the cameras. But it concludes that 鈥渋t is not possible to state with absolute certainty that the latter is entirely or even partially responsible for the former鈥�. The full study is due to be published next month. The Home Office鈥檚 own study of the effects of three CCTV schemes are not due to be released until next year.
The first town centre cameras were set up in King鈥檚 Lynn, Norfolk, in 1987 and now spy on the streets of more than a hundred towns throughout Britain. In October 1994, the government announced a 拢5 million competition for installing CCTV cameras around the country. It invited councils and other local organisations to bid for a slice of the 拢5 million to finance their CCTV schemes. In November, Howard announced a further 拢15 million of government money for another 10 000 spy-in-the-street cameras.
The preliminary findings of the Airdrie and Sutton studies both point out the lack of hard evidence to support Howard鈥檚 claims that CCTV schemes have been a huge success. 鈥淐CTV has recently been the subject of several television documentaries and 鈥� banner headlines claiming large reductions in recorded crime. In the main, these claims are not based on any substantial research,鈥� says the Sutton study. The Airdrie study concurs: 鈥淭here is 鈥� little reliable evidence that they are effective in reducing crime.鈥�
The Sutton study looked at crime rates in the year before and after August 1994, when CCTV cameras were introduced in the borough. Although a 13 per cent drop in crime was recorded in the area covered by the cameras, the borough as a whole saw a more marked fall, of 30 per cent, because of 鈥渙ther crime prevention initiatives鈥� such as multistorey car parks overnight and providing patrolling security staff with pagers so they can keep in contact with each other.
The study reveals that CCTV had little impact on many types of crime, and some even increased. Vehicle crime, burglaries and vandalism dropped, but theft, possession of drugs and robberies all increased during the year after the cameras were switched on (see Graph). To avoid being seen by the cameras, many criminals started stealing from people when they were inside a shop. And despite the cameras, most assaults still took place in the High Street, 鈥渃oncentrated around McDonalds, Burger King, pubs and the railway station鈥�.
The Airdrie study, which was commissioned by the Scottish Office, looked at crime figures from the town centre for the two years before and after November 1992, when 12 CCTV cameras began operating. But Jason Ditton, one of the team that carried out the study, says he is reluctant to draw too many conclusions from the figures. 鈥淐rime prevention generally is one area where a great deal of money has been spent in the past and none of the work has been evaluated.鈥�
Ditton says Howard 鈥渞ode roughshod鈥� over his advisers to push CCTV schemes through in the absence of any firm evidence that the cameras have a dramatic effect on crime.
One of the common criticisms of crime prevention schemes 鈥� from neighbourhood watch to CCTV cameras 鈥� is that they merely displace crime from one place to another. Ditton says the Airdrie study tried to discover whether the geography of crime in the town was changing but failed to show definitively that criminals move elsewhere. To do that 鈥渨e need to do a lot more work of a different type鈥�, he says.
The Airdrie report says that this issue has to be resolved 鈥渂efore it is possible to be reasonably confident of the success of the initiative鈥�. Ditton and his colleagues are planning to interview criminals caught outside Airdrie to see if the CCTV cameras in the town centre caused them to divert their attentions elsewhere. Despite Ditton鈥檚 caution, the Scottish Office is also jumping on the CCTV bandwagon. It is to spend 拢4 million on cameras in Scottish town centres.
Both Ditton and Marjorie Bulos, director of CCTV research at South Bank University and leader of the Sutton study, agree that there has been a lack of research. The Sutton study 鈥渋s regarded by a lot of people as the first serious piece of work to be done,鈥� says Bulos. 鈥淭here was nothing available before now.鈥�