Effectiveness of CCTV systems as a crime preventive tool: evidence from eight Polish cities

ABSTRACT Based on data from eight Polish cities, we tested if closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring systems are effective in crime reduction and if the CCTV monitoring effects are durable. In a quasi-experimental method, we applied police data about four types of crime incidents in 2005–2014 as well as camera location. A preventive effect appeared in 10 of 17 of analysed paired treatment/comparison areas. The overall mean effect appears modest. In two of four cases, the preventive effects were durable. The analysis proves that CCTV cameras in the Polish cities had a crime reduction effect and the effect is sensitive for the category of crime. The influence of CCTV on the fall in crime in Poland is unlikely.

• Publication year

  2021

• Venue

  International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice

• Publication date

  2021-09-20

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/01924036.2021.1976237
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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