CCTV

Crime prevention

A 2008 report by UK Police Chiefs concluded that only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV. In London, a Metropolitan Police report showed that in 2008 only one crime was solved per 1000 cameras. In some cases CCTV cameras have become a target of attacks themselves. A 2009 systematic review by researchers from Northeastern University and the University of Cambridge used meta-analytic techniques to pool the average effect of CCTV on crime across 41 different studies. The studies included in the meta-analysis used quasi-experimental evaluation designs that involved before-and-after measures of crime in experimental and control areas. However, researchers have argued that the British car park studies included in the meta-analysis cannot accurately control for the fact that CCTV was introduced simultaneously with a range of other security-related measures. Second, some have noted that, in many of the studies, there may be issues with selection bias since the introduction of CCTV was potentially endogenous to previous crime trends. In particular, the estimated effects may be biased if CCTV is introduced in response to crime trends.