If videosurveillance is the answer, what was the question? Surveillance, security and urban policy

Abstract

Surveillance cameras have been proliferating around the world for decades now. However, evaluations of their benefits and performance, as well as the relatively small impact that they have had on crime prevention lead us to question the generalized enthusiasm for this urban technology. Why have surveillance cameras managed to proliferate and gain widespread acceptance among the population, elected officials and the police when most serious evaluations question their efficacy? By reviewing the literature on closed-circuit television cameras (cctv), this paper links video surveillance to broader economic, sociological and political processes. Studying the proliferation process of surveillance cameras in Spain from a sociological and politological perspective, this paper poses the question no one seems to want to ask: why cctv?