Video surveillance: Supplementing boots on the ground

Deltek Analyst Joanna Salini reports.

Surveillance is one of the more popular techniques used by state and local government entities to combat crime. Surveillance systems are often successful in preventing criminal activity, whether they run from computers, telephones, aerial imagery, or more commonly, video cameras and closed-circuit television cameras. CCTV cameras have become extremely useful for law enforcement officials. They are a cost-effective solution for crime prevention in susceptible locations such as banks, department stores, and metro stations; however, their use has also generated public dissent.

A report released by the Home Office in 1994 titled “CCTV: Looking Out For You,” outlined several trial programs of public surveillance that resulted in a significant increase in the amount of CCTV cameras installed in towns and cities. CCTV has since grown to unprecedented levels and is becoming an integral part of crime control. The cameras are used to monitor minor offenses such as traffic violations, to more destructive activity such as armed robbery or violence. Their use has impacted the evolution of law enforcement policy and procedures more than most other technologies in the past decade, and they will continue to have an influence in years to come as the technology becomes more advanced. Major cities actively pursuing surveillance projects include Atlanta and Denver.

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