Essay Mariia Sher What are the advantages and disadvantages of using CCTV cameras to fight crime? Nowadays CCTV cameras have recommended themselves as useful assistants in fighting crimes. Public surveillance allows police officers to find criminals and identify them much faster than it was before. However, this innovation has both benefits and drawbacks. In this essay both sides will be analyzed and a conclusion will be drawn. One clear benefit of using CCTV cameras as a police tool is the possibility of using these devices as clear evidence of the commited crime. For instance, working CCTV can depict the moment of robbery in a shop, and the police will use this evidence to trace and identify the criminal. Another reason that installing CCTV can help the police is that cameras will forewarn people about its supervision. In other words, the road sign about working CCTV will work as a caution to a potential lawbreaker and in the long run their surveillance can decrease crime rate. On the other hand, there are obvious disadvantages of having cameras all over the city. Firstly, the installation and the constant maintenance of the CCTV is quite expensive, so not all owners of stores can allow themselves to have one 24/7. There are examples, then they put a fake camera just for the intimidation, but when real crime has been committed those layouts are useless. Secondly, the ethical side of CCTV observance is a debatable topic. In most cases people do not know about them being captured and if a camera does not have a strong secure system it’s data can be stolen and not be private anymore. In conclusion, while there are plus points of using CCTV to fight crime there are some dilemmas that experts all over the world have to discuss in order to solve the ethical side of using them. Whether CCTV is useful or not, mankind should not forget about private life that has to be secured.
