FORMAL SURVEILLANCE

Formal surveillance can be provided in numbers of ways: police, security guards, detectives, bodyguards, personal security and many more. Main purpose of this technique is to deter criminals from committing offences by providing threat and increasing the risk of getting caught.

Formal surveillance may be expanded to the use of electronic devices, such as burglar alarms and closed circuit television (CCTV) (Clarke 1997). Widespread ownership of burglar alarms in Starley Cross would not only reduce rates of property offences but would also reduce police costs.

Many studies have found that the use of burglar alarms influences offenders’ decision whether to commit crime or not.

What is more, it influences the whole area. The visible reduction in crime properties in houses without burglar alarms in the area with houses with such devices was seen (Welsh and Harrington 2010). Therefore, it is a creation of defensible space by reducing possible entry and exit points (Reynald and Elffers 2009). Second intervention that will be provided in the area of Starley Cross is CCTV. Several studies in England demonstrated the effectiveness of cameras in reducing crime (Clarke 1997). As the part of Situational Crime Prevention method and technique of formal surveillance (Welsh and Farrington 2003), CCTV aims to reduce fear of crime and increase the fear associated with offending (Waples, Gill and Fisher 2009).

• Caught in the act—perpetrators will be detected and possibly removed or deterred.

• You’ve been framed—CCTV deters potential offenders who perceive an elevated risk of apprehension.

• Nosy Parker—CCTV may lead more people to feel able to frequent the surveilled places. This will increase the extent of natural surveillance by newcomers, which may deter potential offenders.

• Time for crime—CCTV may be perceived as reducing the time available to commit crime, preventing those crimes that require extended time and effort.

• Anticipated shaming—the presence of CCTV may induce people to take elementary security precautions for fear that they will be shamed by being shown on CCTV.

• Appeal to the cautious—cautious people migrate to the areas with CCTV to shop, leave their cars, and so on. Their caution and security mindedness reduce the risk.” (Welsh and Farrington 2003)

CCTV works in a number of ways:

However, it has been argued that CCTV displaces crime and such assumption needs to be taken into consideration before such implementation. CCTV is necessary around the community to make sure that crime is not displaced but deterred. Current debates about the effectiveness of closed circuit televisio need to be analyzed before implementation (Welsh and Farrington 2003). Here you can see the movie about the effectiveness of CCTV. All the assumptions are important and need to be taken into consideration in order to make the implementation successful.

Next Intervention

Situational Crime Prevention

Global Horizon Skills (2015)