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March 05, 2006
Cameras giving crooks the blues in Chicago?
From the Suntimes:
A newspaper report by Mark Konkol evaluates the success of the cameras in Chicago. Up until this point, the only data on the camera's success has come from city personnel. Konkol reviews the data on four locations before and after the cameras were installed. He also notes the many limitations to any finding of direct causation, because there are lots of variables at play including "weather conditions, traffic patterns, police activity and such." You will have to read the article (and look at the attached graphic) for all the data. Here is part of the writeup:
A look at crime before and after four cameras were installed on the stretch of Chicago from Harding to Homan shows the surveillance cameras can be effective, police say. The number of reported crimes there jumped, along with a spike in drug dealing arrests. In all, there were 67 narcotics arrests at those four locations during the six months before cameras were installed. In the following six months, officers made 179 drug arrests at those hot spots, police said.
"As soon as cameras go in, crime is disrupted, especially narcotics sales. Put cameras where people are selling drugs, and narcotics selling goes away. Open-air drug markets are immediately affected," said Lt. Dave Blanco, who heads the surveillance camera detail.
A closer look at the crime statistics, though, shows it's rather hard to tell -- from corner to corner -- if the cameras actually reduce crime. For instance, at Chicago and Harding, the number of calls to police reporting drug dealing and battery increased 31 percent during the six-month period after cameras were installed. But just three blocks away, at 801 N. Hamlin, police calls for drug dealing dropped 288 percent -- from 175 to 45 -- in the six months after cameras went in.
Posted by rshah at March 5, 2006 09:07 PM
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