Fighting Crime From Above?

Yesterday a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan which had security officers, security gates and plenty of CCTV cameras was bombed.  The whole incident was broadcast on TV.

Does this unfortunate incident mean that Deputy Commissioner of Counter-Terrorism of the New York City Police Department Richard Falkenrath has made misleading statements?

Mr Falkenrath, referring to the the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative (LMSI),  claimed his camera network and license plate readers will DETER TERRORISM.

Falkenrath said that special attention paid to the WTC site is essential. “We have to assume that it will be targeted in the future,” he said, “Our intention is to deter such an attack, providing the best possible defense to that area while maintaining its freedom and openness and economic viability.”

By 2011, there will be 3,000 cameras installed and multiple license plate readers manned by an additional 25 or so officers.  The capital cost for this project are 90 -- 100 million dollars.

The NYPD and Mr. Falkenrath need to understand that there is no peer-reviewed studies that show publicly operated CCTV cameras:

1. Deter terrorism
2. Deter violent crime
3. Increase apprehensions based on photographic images
4. Increase convictions based on photographic images

There is evidence, however, that CCTV in public parks may deter vandalism, gun shot detectors may push murder into the next town, red light cameras actually increase accidents, and license plate readers can be used to apprehend criminals and stolen cars.

It is my opinion that the NYPD should not be in the surveillance business. The NYPD should only be in the crime reporting effectiveness business and leave surveillance technologies to the private sector and private spaces.

Update 7/20/09: Another observation of CCTV cameras not deterring terrorism