Abstract
Few studies have investigated law enforcement agencies' motivation and capacity to integrate video surveillance of public places into patrol- and criminal-investigation practices or the extent to which that motivation and capacity are constrained by independent regulatory agencies. In this paper, we assess the impact of a law-enforcement experiments in video surveillance in Montreal during a five-year period (2004 to 2008). Two strategies are compared. The first strategy made use of CCTV as a proactive and integrated element of a problem-solving initiative targeting an open-air drug-dealing market. The second strategy was essentially passive and CCTV cameras were spread along a street known for its nightlife, bars scene, and clubs. Findings show that video surveillance is, in fact, effective when closely linked to traditional police strategies and focused on a specific, recurrent, and localized problem. CCTV did manage to have an impact on the incidence of drug-dealing transactions as well as a collateral impact on the incidence of other offences, especially violent crimes. The second and more common approach, however, had no impact on crime.
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