Fighting Crime From Above?

There is no evidence that cameras deter violent crime, however, there is some evidence surfacing that CCTV combined with video analytics, motion detection, and email alerts is actually stopping vandalism in public parks.

According to the Baltimore Sun, 5 parks will be fitted with this equipment based on the success of a pilot program from Reistertown park.

The equipment senses motion and automatically sends e-mail alerts to the closest police station. It will also e-mail information on cars illegally parked after sunset.  "This technology is very smart," Barrett said. "It can detect motion and follow it. It can distinguish between a human being and a deer, even down to distinguishing the color of clothing."

This equipment is also operationally cheap because it doesn't require 24 hour monitoring.

There has been some evidence noted by Welsh and Farrington that noted parking lot crime reduction, "Results of this review indicate that CCTV has a modest but significant desirable effect on crime, is most effective in reducing crime in car parks, is most effective when targeted at vehicle crimes"

Greenberg and Roush also found less "minor crimes" like vandalism in their research, "Though not definitive, our results suggest that CCTV may be moderately effective in preventing minor crimes or in diverting them to distant areas."

While the initial reports from Baltimore sound promising, the City should launch a formal review of the systems to test if vandalism or graffitti are being displaced outside of the parks and possibly into private property.