UNDERSTANDING CAR PARKS, CRIME, AND CCTV: EVALUATION LESSONS FROM SAFER CITIES

• NCJ Number: 147853
• Author(s): N Tilley
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 40 pages
• Corporate Author: Great Britain Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Crime Prevention Unit Series Paper No. 42.

Annotation

The Safer Cities Program, operated by the Great Britain Home Office, currently runs crime prevention initiatives in 20 projects in England. This paper discusses the experience of six Safer Cities projects regarding the use of closed circuit television (CCTV) in parking lots as a crime control measure.

Abstract

CCTV may impact on car crime by making it more likely that present offenders will be apprehended, deterring potential offenders, and increasing drivers' use of parking lots and thereby natural surveillance which also deters potential offenders. This report suggests that CCTV may fire a number of mechanisms, and that the way CCTV is implemented will affect its mechanism firing potential. This thematic evaluation was based on the data gathered from the Safer Cities projects. The results showed that the deployment of CCTV has generally led to reductions in various categories of car-related crimes. It appears that CCTV is most effective when installed alongside other complementary measures. 5 tables, 5 figures, 1 appendix, and 19 references