Cameras Have Cut Violence, Study Says

The use of surveillance cameras by D.C. police has lowered violence in some areas of the city and helped to identify suspects and solve crimes, police say in a report released this week. But some remain skeptical, and a council member is questioning whether the $4 million supply of cameras merely shifts crime away from the lenses.

The report, prepared for the D.C. Council by the office of Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, says violent crime increased about 1 percent citywide last year. But, it says, violent crime decreased 19 percent within 250 feet of each of the cameras, which the city began installing in August 2006. Property crimes increased 5 percent overall last year but 2 percent in the camera areas, the report says.

"In the seventeen months since cameras were first installed in D.C.'s neighborhoods, the cameras have continued to have a positive impact on public safety in the city," the report says.

Until late last year, officers had used the 73 cameras mainly as an investigative tool, checking the recordings after crimes were committed to look for leads and evidence. They began to monitor live images from dozens of cameras, most of which are on utility poles, choosing locations based on crime trends. Lanier had said she wanted to use technology to solve crimes more quickly or stop them in progress.

According to the report, police have collected images from the cameras that could be used in investigations: 112 for potential court proceedings, 13 that helped identify suspects or witnesses, nine that depicted events immediately before or after crimes and seven that showed crimes in progress.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), head of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, said he wonders whether the cameras have stopped crimes or just caused criminals to move down the block.

"The issue with the cameras is displacement," he said. "You can put a camera up, and crime will go down where the camera is focused, but the crime may be dispersed."

He also said he is not convinced that the costs are worth the benefits.

"Cameras have been useful in a handful of cases," Mendelson said. "Would we get a much better bang for our buck spending the next $4 million elsewhere?"

The department hopes to add about 50 cameras in the next two years and make other upgrades for an estimated cost of $4.5 million. Police get live feeds from 54 of the 73 cameras; they plan to have all of them become capable of providing live feeds, which are typically monitored at police headquarters by two or three people who watch 10 to 15 cameras at a time.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said that cameras can be useful in fighting crime but that civilians should be assigned to watch the screens.

"It's not a good use of police resources," he said.

Police say that watching for criminal activity, even on a screen, takes specialized skills, which is why officers monitor the images.

The cameras are popular among some residents, many of whom request more of them at community meetings.

"I think that's very alarming, because it shows the fear for public safety outweighs personal freedoms and civil rights," Mendelson said.