CCTV is a powerful investigative tool to solve crimes, study finds
CCTV cameras provide useful evidence to solve two-thirds of police investigations in which they are available, new research suggests.
CCTV cameras provide useful evidence to solve two-thirds of police investigations in which they are available, new research suggests.
More than 250,000 crimes were analysed by the Nottingham Trent University study covering offences along the rail network by the British Transport Police over a five-year period.
CCTV was available in almost half of those crimes 110,000 offences and proved an aid in almost two-thirds of cases.
When the figures were broken down, some large variations were identified in relation to the offences and the extent to which cameras were useful.
But cameras were deemed a benefit in 62 per cent of robbery investigations, 61 per cent of serious assault cases, and 53 per cent of shop thefts.
However, when it came to theft of a motor vehicle, researchers found CCTV was useful just 24 per cent of the time, and 16 per cent of the time in cases of theft from a motor vehicle.
The study also linked useful CCTV with increased detection rates for all types of crimes except drugs, fraud and public order offences.
Robbery saw the largest difference, where the probability of detecting an offence rose from 8.9 per cent without CCTV to 55.7 per cent with it.
The detection rate of criminal damage also quadrupled from ten per cent to 40 per cent with the help of useful CCTV.
Detections rates with the absence of useful CCTV are higher for violent offences, but the study attributed this to the presence of witnesses at the scene of the crime.
Dr Matt Ashby, lead researcher and criminologist in the university`s School of Social Sciences said: This study shows that CCTV is frequently useful in the investigation of crime and is associated with a substantial increase in the likelihood of most types of offences being solved. CCTV is clearly a powerful investigative tool, particularly for more serious crimes.
This does not mean, however, that there should be a rush to install cameras in all types of locations. Consideration should always be given to the potential for frequent or serious crimes to occur, or whether theres an opportunity to use cameras for multiple purposes.
In 2016, a report from the British Security Industry Association found there are between four and six million CCTV cameras in the UK.