Technologix CCTV security solutions
There has clearly been an expansion of CCTV surveillance around the
world, especially in the private sector surveillance, and there appears now to be an
accelerating diffusion into the public realm. The globalised trends of late modernity
have accelerated this growth.
Increasing urbanization has aggravated the trend towards anonymity, leading to
concerns over establishing and verifying identity. Increasing mobility, both locally
and internationally, have given rise to a global 'stranger society', where social
control and governance based on intimacy and face-to face knowledge are increasingly
less viable.
Risk management has also become the dominant mode of reasoning for both international
corporations and governments alike. In the realm of criminal justice, reformist ideals
have given way to more modest preventative responses that focus on 'opportunity reduction'
and 'risk management'. CCTV can be seen as part of the trend towards a preventative attitude
to crime rather than passive approach.
Crime reduction is only one of the rationales for installing a camera system. Another is
a desire to improve public perceptions of safety. Here, Australian evidence is quite
positive. New South Wales research in relation to systems installed in the City of Sydney
and in the Municipality of Fairfield found most (85 per cent and 61 per cent respectively)
members of the public reported that the presence of the cameras made them feel safer in the
central business district.
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