The Dave Williams and Jobuda Ahmed study says more about our association of CCTV cameras with crime than it does about CCTV cameras not reassuring the public. Initially looking at an urban street scene the subjects will think – this is a place I have never been to before but it looks nice. When a CCTV camera is added the perception of the neighborhood changes and subjects will think – hold on the CCTV cameras must be there for a reason. Then when their fears are confirmed by the addition of a perceived negative image (the skinhead) that creates a potentially threatening situation, so I am not surprised with the result.

You could achieve the same results as this study by showing a group of people a picture of a castle (for example) in daylight, then showing them a picture of a castle at night. In daylight the castle is an interesting historical building that the subjects might want to visit. Show them the same scene at night and it produces an entirely different effect. Most people are frightened and wouldn’t want to go there.

The Dave Williams and Jobuda Ahmed study shows nothing about how people feel about CCTV all it proves is that the majority of people associate CCTV cameras with crime and the more dangerous parts of town.

Working in the CCTV industry it is also worth noting that there are far too many cameras to monitor adequately anyway. We have many case studies where CCTV has demonstrated a Return on Investment such as St Pancras, Oldham and Warrington Colleges.