Fighting Crime From Above?

Another recent news article from the UK is providing further evidence that cameras focused on parking lots are reducing or stopping vehicle crime.

A SECURITY camera installed at a Crewkerne car park has had a dramatic impact on crime. Its arrival came following a number of incidents over the past year at the car park in which the vehicles had been either damaged or broken into. And Sgt Lloyd said: “There haven’t been any offences recorded since the camera was installed in the car park.”

There are many different kinds of vehicle crime which include:  vandalism, criminal mischief, smash and grab, and vehicle thefts.  It still remains unclear just how effective a CCTV cameras are on each category of vehicle crime.  From the small amount of research out there , the answer is currently not clear.  It may just be "all of the above".

From Biting Back II: REDUCING REPEAT VICTIMISATION IN HUDDERSFIELD : Routine activity theory states that three elements have to be present for a crime to take place:

To prevent crime, you therefore need to take action to affect at least one of those conditions.

So it appears in public or private parking lots, a CCTV camera is quickly becoming a capable guardian.

According to Weisel, Smith, Garson, Pavlichev & Wartell : Three primary types of motor vehicle theft are based upon the differing motivations of offenders. These include: profit motivated theft in which stolen motor vehicles are exported, or disassembled for spare parts, and fraud; theft for transportation for short-term or prolonged use, which may be used to commit another crime; and recreational theft, often know as joyriding and typically involving youths.

If in fact these cameras are stopping vehicle thefts, there can also be a cascading effect which has the opportunity to further reduce "another crime" that the vehicle could have been used to commit.

Last week, a Wal-Mart camera captured an attempted murderers license plate in a parking lot which directed the police to the home of the suspects.  A few weeks ago, FCFA featured an article about a park in Baltimore which is experiencing less vandalism which also included technology to monitor the parking lot for illegally parked cars.

So it appears that cameras in parking lots with the correct positioning, image quality, and light levels have the potential to:

• Deter vehicle crime
• Increase apprehensions; which can
• Increase convictions