Video cameras do not increase conviction rates

I’ll predict right now that Bruce Schneier will also blog about this.

So, you get much less safety/privacy, waste billions that could have been spent actually doing things that reduce crime, and no real benefit.

UK: CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police » Rational Review

“Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.The warning comes from the head of the Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office (Viido) at New Scotland Yard as the force launches a series of initiatives to try to boost conviction rates using CCTV evidence” (05/06/08)