> A primary argument in favor of CCTV surveillance is improved law enforcement and crime prevention. We compared the number of public CCTV cameras with the crime and safety indices reported by Numbeo, which are based on surveys of that site’s visitors.
> For both indices, the correlation was weak (r = 0.168, r = -0.168, n = 120). A higher number of cameras just barely correlates with a higher safety index and lower crime index.
That's also before you consider the trade off, both in privacy and in money. How much does it cost to put up all those cameras, and how far would that money go if applied to traditional law enforcement methods? Or just not spent because the cost still exceeds the benefit even if the benefit isn't statistically indistinguishable from zero?
That makes an impressive case for cameras. I would have expected a negative correlation. People put up more cameras where there are more crimes.
There is no reason to expect that correlation to exist. People put up cameras where they can afford to buy cameras and have a local legislature that can be influenced by contractors who want to sell cameras, but having money is inversely correlated with high crime rates.
There are more cameras in NYC than Detroit.
If a criminal chooses to not commit a crime (or commits it elsewhere) because the risk/reward balance is changed, then it prevented the crime from happening (there), and made that location safer.
So there is no doubt that the cameras make places safer. Even fake cameras can make a location safer. The question is whether the cost to personal integrity makes it worth it. Most importantly: who answers that question, and who ensures the cameras aren't used for bad purposes? That's probably a smaller problem in London than in Beijing.
Why not make cameras that output only encrypted video which may be stored by agencies and decrypted only when people holding the right keys come together during a trial or active police investigation? That would be strictly better for privacy than what we have now - which is total surveillance.
The companies are now selling to private communities. [1]
[1]https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ajc.com/news/local/meet-the...