CCTV
Public attitudes towards CCTV: results from the Pre-intervention Public Attitude Survey
This report looks at people's experiences of crime and attitudes to CCTV in 9 residential areas and 1 town and 2 city centres in a period that runs from January to August 2002.
Title: Public attitudes towards CCTV: results from the Pre-intervention Public Attitude Survey
Author: Angela Spriggs, Javier Argomaniz, Martin Gill, Jane Bryan (University of Leicester)
Series: Home Office on-line report 10/05
Date published: February 2005
Number of pages: 65
Availability: Download full report 
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Over 4,000 people in residential areas and in town and city centres were interviewed.
Victimisation
32% of the residential sample reported suffering some instance of victimisation, most often harassment, theft of or from vehicles.
In the urban centres of Shire Town, North City and South City the reported victimisation rates were 14%, 15% and 45%, respectively.
In the city centres combined, non-White respondents were significantly more likely to report being victimised than White respondents.
Women were more likely than men to have been victimised in the last 12 months in both residential and town/city centres.
Fear of crime
21% of respondents in residential areas avoid particular areas in which they live during the day and 54% avoid them at night.
The proportion of those avoiding particular areas in town and city centres varies from 15% to 35% during the day and 33% to 63% at night.
In towns and cities those who had been victimised in the previous 12 months were most likely to avoid areas both during daylight and after dark.
There were 3 main reasons for avoiding some areas:
fear of physical attack
because of the people who gather there
because they perceive it as a rough area.
Women were more likely to have a higher level of fear of crime, to experience harassment, and to avoid particular areas.
Whites were significantly more likely to worry in residential areas with large non-White populations.
Perceptions of CCTV
In residential areas, 30% of those who currently avoided areas during the day and 25% of those who avoided areas at night said that they would visit these places once CCTV was installed.
Individuals appeared confused about the capabilities of CCTV, but still supported it and had high expectations of it.
82% of all respondents stated that they were 'happy with' the installation of CCTV.
In residential areas:
80% of respondents in residential areas believed that CCTV would reduce crime in their areas.
63% believed there would be a smaller number of young people hanging around.
69% believed people would report more incidents.
56% believed the police would respond more quickly.
Those who thought that they would go to new places in residential areas after installation of CCTV were more likely to think that CCTV would have an impact and were more likely to think that the cameras had a number of different features and capabilities (e.g. the capacity to show colour images).
About a sixth of residential respondents felt that CCTV would be an invasion of privacy. Males and those groups who did not perceive crime to be a problem were the most likely to perceive CCTV as an invasion of privacy.
Last update: Wednesday, September 20, 2006