Closed-Circuit Television

There are few crime control technologies that have caused more controversy than closed-circuit television (CCTV) in recent years. Since the Metropolitan Police first installed CCTV cameras in Trafalgar Square, London, in the 1960s, the status and understanding of CCTV as a crime control technology has only become more complex and nuanced. There are numerous reasons why the use of CCTV has been resisted by some, including the claim that it affects privacy and civil liberties, cost implications, the indiscriminate gaze of the camera that captures the movements of law-abiding citizens as well as of those with criminal intent, and strong doubts that CCTV is indeed an effective mechanism for controlling crime as the public has been encouraged to believe. CCTV has become strongly politicized, and ...