Lib Dems suggest CCTV ineffective on crime

Story link: Lib Dems suggest CCTV ineffective on crime by Jan Harris

According to an analysis of London’s £200 million CCTV network by the Liberal Democrats, there is no evidence that CCTV cameras help to solve crime.

There are 10,534 CCTV cameras in 32 London Boroughs, owned and controlled by local authorities and Transport for London.

The Liberal Democrats compared the number of cameras in each London borough with the proportion of crimes solved there. It found that the percentage of crimes solved was no higher in boroughs with comprehensive CCTV systems than in boroughs with very few CCTV cameras.

On the contrary, four out of five of the boroughs with the greatest number of cameras - Wandsworth (993 cameras), Tower Hamlets (824), Greenwich (747) and Lewisham (730) - achieved below the average 21% rate of solving crime, while Kensington, Chelsea, Sutton and Waltham Forest, with less than 100 CCTV cameras each, still achieved a crime-solving rate of around 20%. Police in Sutton achieved a clear-up rate of 25%.

Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrats’ spokeswoman on policing, suggests that with no clear link between CCTV and crime-solving, money spent on CCTV might be better spend on providing extra police officers.

The figures used in the study were obtained by the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly using the Freedom of Information Act.