A new study by the University of Southern California reveals:
The research found no significant correlation between crime rates and the cameras. As an ACLU analysis of the report explains, “In Hollywood, violent crime decreased less in target areas with cameras than in the surrounding areas … . Property crimes in Hollywood decreased slightly more in the camera area (17.8 percent to 16.4 percent), although rates of vandalism and auto theft fared worse than in control areas.” Equally insignificant disparities were found in the Watts housing project.
Certainly, such a study needs to take front-and-center in a debate over the expansion of these surveillance programs. Unfortunately, as the ACLU pointed out, such programs have expanded with little study and little debate.
The real criminals are the ones installing and monitoring the cameras.
