The Morality of CCTV

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The Morality of CCTV

Closed-circuit television is widely used in England as a deterrent to crime. It is also used sparingly in Scotland, Times Square, and Atlantic City. The idea is to capture crimes or images of potential criminals on video surveillance tape so that the criminal can be identified. The dilemma of this practice comes from the moral conflict it creates. Do the civil liberties and privacy issues that are taken away justify the protection and safety that CCTV provides? This paper will look at the moral, statistical, and ethical issues of CCTV. It will look at whether CCTV reduces crime significantly enough to justify the moral and ethical violations it produces.

CCTV has had its share of successes. One of the greatest successes of CCTV has been in the catching of David Copeland, the infamous nailbomber. He was a racist terrorist. CCTV was essential in capturing this dangerous fugitive and providing safety to the public. “CCTV is a powerful weapon in preventing and detecting crime – just look at how it helped us catch the nail bomber in a matter of days."1 Many innocent lives were saved from the capture of the terrorist.

In Glasgow, Scotland CCTV has been experimented with and has produced positive results. In the first year after the installation of the security cameras there were 3,156 fewer crimes and offenses than there were on average in the 2 years prior to the installation of CCTV.2 It should also be noted in this Glasgow study that 67% of those interviewed did not mind being observed by street cameras.2

But now we must question these figures. The same study in Glasgow noted that there was a general downward trend in crimes and offenses in Glasgow even before the cameras were installed. When this...

... middle of paper ...

...nsidering all of the arguments and evidence that I have weighed, I must conclude that CCTV is immoral. It is more of an ethical violation than a significant safety measure.

Bibliography

1.“Important Information About CCTV”, http://www.met.police.uk/crimeprevention/cctv.htm

2.Scottish Office Central Research Unit, “The Effect of Closed Circuit Television on Recorded Crime Rates and Public Concern About Crime in Glasgow”, July 7, 1999, from http://www.scotcrim.u-net.com/researchc2.htm

3.John M. Crew, “Arguments to the Oakland City Council on the Use of Police Surveillance”, May 23, 1997, from http://www.aclunc.org/police/oak-video.html

4.Dr. Clive Norris and Gary Armstrong of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hull University, The Unforgiving Eye: CCTV surveillance in public space, from http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/cctv/

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