Is CCTV working? The effectiveness of CCTV and the British experience

1. Is CCTV working? The effectiveness of CCTV and the British experience Professor Martin Gillm.gill@perpetuitygroup.com

2. Martin Gill • Director of PRCI • Professor of Criminology at the University of Leicester • 11 Books and over 100 articles • Fellow of The Security Institute, member of ASIS International, RSMF, Security Guild

3. Our Objectives • To undertake top quality research work • To provide practical outputs for those working at the sharp end • To give advice and recommendations based on evidence • To conduct first class evaluations

4. Our Research • Are security guards effective? • What drives illicit markets? • What causes indiscipline in schools? • How do shop thieves steal? • Are robberies preventable? • What causes false alarms? • Does CCTV work?

5. What is CCTV • How does a CCTV system work? • Analogue versus digital • Fixed, redeployable, mobile • Open, closed, covert • Static and pan, tilt, zoom • How are images transferred?

6. Where is CCTV located? • Cities and towns • Car parks • Within and outside organisations • Residential areas • Within private homes

7. How is CCTV implemented • Bidding for money, how many cameras? • Project management • Engaging stakeholders • Third parties • Design and technology

8. The Control Room • What is a control room? • How are images assessed? • Monitoring behaviour Where are control rooms located? • How do they operate? • Who controls them? • How are images managed?

9. Issues and CCTV • Technology • Civil liberties • Public support • Police support

10. Research on CCTV • Most focus has been on static systems • Previous research is often weak • Concerns about methodologies used • Conclusions inconclusive • Most optimism is for CCTV in car parks

11. New Ways of looking at what works • Understand the offenders’ perspective, originally robbers now other thieves • Prison based interviews • Focus groups • Simulating thefts and conducting penetration tests • Experimental designs and realist evaluations

12. Pinhole Camera • A pinhole camera is attached to shop thieves and they are then sent off around stores to simulate thefts • The pictures provide a ‘thief’s eye’ view of situations and how they can be exploited • The thieves provide a commentary explaining how they are able to circumvent security loopholes

13. Assessing risk • Our aim has been to develop a better method of assessing risk by looking at offenders’ risk assessment • Understanding what measures work in what circumstances is crucial • Understanding the reasons why is important

14. How do offenders assess risk? • Consider the various points they may make decisions at • Consider why they do so and the decisions affecting them • Develop a response

15. Assessing Impact • What is CCTV supposed to impact on and why? • Understanding Context, Mechanism and Outcome

16. Proposed mechanisms by which CCTV may impact on theft • 1. CCTV may give staff more confidence to approach suspects • 2. CCTV may decrease staff vigilance as they begin to rely on it • 3. CCTV may be used as a management tool to increase customer satisfaction • 4. CCTV may allow the effective deployment of staff to areas where suspicious behaviour is occurring

17. Mechanisms • 5. CCTV may aid identification of trouble spots within a store or community • 6. CCTV may cause an increased actual rate of being caught • 7. CCTV pictures may be used as evidence for prosecution of offenders • 8. CCTV may decrease sales if customers dislike a store’s surveillance

18. Mechanisms • 9. CCTV may increase sales if customers feel that the store is and safe and secure place to shop. Similarly with town and city centres • 10. CCTV may cause an increased perceived risk of being caught • 11. The offender may move to other areas of the store where they feel they are less visible to the CCTV • 12. The presence of signs advertising CCTV operation symbolise efforts to take crime seriously and may influence the offenders’ perceptions of risk

19. CCTV Effectiveness • What is meant by effectiveness, what are the objectives? • The scheme design, implementation, stakeholder involvement, control room operations and procedures, relationship with the police all have an impact • In what conditions is the scheme operating, what is the context?

20. Perceptions • Around the world there is scepticism • In UK, the public are very supportive • The police have a mixed attitude but mostly good • Offenders say it will not put them off, unless they have been caught!

21. CCTV as a Prevention Tool • Does security work? • What makes a good risk assessment? • What makes for good prevention? • What more do we need to learn? • What do we need to do to make CCTV effective?

22. Summary • There is a lot we can learn from different types of evaluations • We can greatly improve the effectiveness of security measures • We are helping organisations to better assess risks and implement better and more cost-effective solutions

23. Professor Martin GillDirector Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International Ltd (PRCI) m.gill@perpetuitygroup.com