CCTV gets installed, crime goes...up

Two months ago Oxford City Council spent over £25,000 installing a CCTV system outside a row of shops popular with local gangs. Problem solved, right?

As reported by the Oxford Mail:

Figures released by Thames Valley Police show that since the £26,000 cameras were put in place, the number of reported incidents in Blackbird Leys Road has risen by 33 per cent.

Oxford City Council switched on the two 360-degree cameras outside the ‘top shops’ in Blackbird Leys Road, and outside the Spar shop in Dunnock Way, Greater Leys, on December 15.

The installation of cameras had been talked about for more than 20 years as both areas have long been areas where gangs of youths gather.

The force said it was too early to see the full benefits of the investment.

Au contraire, Thames Valley. The benefits are made only too obvious by their complete absence.

Sgt Rob Axe - the local community policeman - said he believed that the cameras would prove their worth during the summer, when more people were out on the streets.

However, the owner of the newsagents covered by the CCTV seemed less sure:

Mr Russell-Gray said: “It might have an impact in the summer, but the trees might block the camera when it grows to full leaf — they need to go if the cameras are going to work properly.”

CCTV: 20 years in deliberation. £26,000 in cost. Negative impact on crime.

By Dylan Sharpe

Comments

[LeChiffre]

"CCTV: 20 years in deliberation. £26,000 in cost. Negative impact on crime."

Next step: chop down the trees.

[Purlieu]

"he trees might block the camera when it grows to full leaf — they need to go if the cameras are going to work properly"
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.

[Michel S.]

Presumably the criminals are doing it just to spite Big Brother. Isn't sprucing up the neighborhood more conducive to reducing crime than beefing up authoritarian monitoring systems, especially as, in this case, they do not come with increased patrolling?

[Anthony Smith]

Maybe the crime levels have stayed the same or gone down, but people are much more likely to report the crimes because they think the criminals are now more likely to be caught with CCTV evidence?