The Impact of Police-Monitored Cctv Cameras on Crime Patterns

Rapid adoption and expansion of the CCTV systems in Turkey as well as all over the world have produced a fair amount of technological determinism among many law enforcement officials, which Norris and Armstrong (1999, p. 9) define as an unquestioning belief in the power of technology. As a matter of technological determinism, politicians and the public continue to myopically expect that the exclusive responsibility of preventing crime rest on the police-monitored CCTV cameras. Conversely, policy makers may be better informed if they consider why the law enforcement agencies should invest in the installation of the CCTV cameras in public areas based on the research. In fact, a well-designed evidence based paradigm in the CCTV literature is likely to reveal the truth about the question of does it work?