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CCTV and Citizen Guardianship Suppression: A Questionable Proposition

University of Central Florida

An untested hypothesis regarding closed-circuit television (CCTV) is that the use of CCTV surveillance systems causes the loss of informal citizen guardianship activities in camera-surveilled public spaces. This hypothesized effect is empirically tested in two ways. In the first approach, an examination of survey responses between respondents who were aware, without prompting, of a public space surveillance camera system (24.4% of the respondents) and those who were not aware of the cameras is undertaken. The expectation is that preexisting knowledge of the cameras will be associated with attitudes associated with a self-reported reduced willingness to exercise guardianship actions. In the second approach, time series data sets of calls for service in a CCTV-surveilled area and a comparison control zone are examined. Neither method revealed empirical evidence of a degrading of informal citizen guardianship activities following the installation of CCTV cameras.

Key Words: CCTV • surveillance cameras • citizen guardianship • public surveillance

Police Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1, 100-125 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1098611105278328


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