HARD TECHNOLOGY OF CRIME PREVENTION

Professor Byrne Lecture: September 23, 2010

Hard Technology Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2i_Hax0HY&feature=related

Hard Technology Crime Prevention Applications

CCTV: Closed circuit TV Street Lighting Personal Protection devices: guns, tasors,

knives, mace, etc. Home protection devices: locks,

surveillance,monitoring,private security Neighborhood protection systems: walled

neighborhoods

CCTV and Street Lighting

CCTV and street lighting strategies often used in conjunction

More common in England than US Evidence of Effectiveness is mixed Some Evidence of crime reduction for

property crimes such as auto theft No Evidence of crime reduction for

violent crime

Next Generation of CCTV

CCTV and Facial Recognition Software linked to National ID Data Base

CCTV and Behavior Monitoring Software tested at John Hopkins University

Future Shock: Beyond Orwell’s 1984 scenario

CCTV and the Public: Allowing the Public to Monitor CCTV footage and be CRIME SPOTTERS

In England, there are 4 million cameras, but only 1000 are being monitored real time

Future Shock: A Senario

Imagine the scenario: lamp post is triggered by technology to spot you

walking strangely begins recording your conversation, scans your

face to match your details in the national database, X-rays you to check for weapons

shouts "stand still citizen" and scans your brain to check whether you intend to commit a crime

sees you're a bit depressed, sections you under mental health act,

cops pick you up, hand you in to doctors who lock you up and microchip you.

The Public as Cyber Police

The Public can monitor cyberspace and report illegal activities to the police

Social Network Monitoring to Identify Underage Drinking, Drug Use, Bullying, Evidence of physical abuse, sexual solicitation.

The Public can also potentially monitor public spaces via direct access to CCTV feeds.

Police can offer rewards for the identification of BOTH cyber and public crimes

PRIVATE GROUPS ARE NOW SERVING AS CYBER POLICE:

PERVERTED JUSTICE. COM IS ONE EXAMPLE

http://www.perverted-justice.com/

Personal Protection Devices

Extent of Use: 1 in 2 homes have a gun, but we don’t have data on the use of other personal protection devices.

Evidence of Effectiveness is debated Gun-related injuries from accidents are a

serious problem Tasers are used both to commit crime

and prevent crime

Home Protection Devices

• Home security systems are more popular in urban areas.

• Last year’s murder in Mount Vernon New Hampshire involved the targeting of a home in an isolated, semi-rural area.

• Case is very similar to the Zantop Murders of two Professors at Dartmouth a few years ago.

• Judgment Ridge is an excellent book on this crime

Neighborhood Protection

There are a variety of hard technology applications being used today.

Private, gated communities are one strategy.

Private Security systems monitored by private security firms are another strategy.

Evidence of effectiveness?

NEWARK COPS & CCTVA Case Study: Witness Intimidation

and the No Snitching Culture

Intro of Surveillance cameras to Newark

110 new surveillance cameras & a gunshot detection system planned for Newark

Sparked by the death of 3 college students in Summer 07

Plan financed with private money raised by Newark Community Foundation, $3.2 million

Progress

In 8 months 44 cameras in a 7 square mile area

The area represents the location on 80% of all Newark gun violence in last 3 years

Placement and Monitoring

The cameras are on lamp posts, above intersections and on public & private buildings

Footage streams real-time to a police communications center

Cntd…

Clerks monitor footage and can adjust camera focus and field of vision

Footage is stored for 30 days

Does it work To Prevent Crime?

Dr. Byrne says NO

Research on CCTV in London, England says NO

Or Does it Simply displace crime?..

Newark Results

The video surveillance unit has detected 289 criminal incidents for first quarter of 2008

Another 799 incidents were either called in to 911 or officers on patrol

CHINA’S ALL SEEING EYE

Should the government be able to monitor our public behavior, identify potential

offenders, and control the public’s access to information that challenges government

authority and decisions?

The Beginning

Since 2006 over 200,000 cameras installed in a single Chinese city, Shenzhen.

Cameras appear in public places sometimes disguised as lampposts

In next 3 years 2 million more CCTVs expected to be installed in Shenzhen

CCTV LINKED TO LESS CRIME

"Since the surveillance cameras came in, we have seen a very dramatic decrease

in crime in Shenzhen."

Chinese Surveillance Camera Market

The Chinese surveillance camera market saw revenues of $4.1 billion in 2007, up 24% from 2006

New Technology is being field tested in China today that will be available in the United States in a few years, depending on how civil liberties are viewed in the context of crime prevention

New Developments in Software

One Chinese company has created software for CCTVs that has the ability to alert police when inordinate numbers of people begin to gather in one location

The goal

The future is that Chinese citizens will be watched on CCTV, listened to on their cell phones, monitored on digital voice recognition, internet access limited via “The Great Firewall”, and movements tracked via national ID card

The Golden Shield

The Golden Shield is the Chinese government attempt to maintain power and complete control over its citizens

The gov’t has been documented to have limited internet access of foreign news outlets, block cell phone calls and or text messages

No One is Beyond Review: The Case of Tibetan Monks

Tibetan monks have proclaimed that cameras have been introduced, unwillingly, to prayer

rooms and monasteries

Of Course, one unintended consequence of these new technologies is that the public can

potentially monitor the police and public officials

U.S. Examples: from Rodney King to U-tube videos of police and govt officials

Facial Recognition

New software, that should be out within a year, will “have to be able to match a face in a 10 million database in one second.”

This is the next “big thing” this technology use distance between eyes as a primary identifier, because it is a feature that does not change with age