The Use of CCTV Systems Around the World (Part I)

Surveillance & Society, a journal dedicated to Surveillance Studies recently released an editorial on the evolution of CCTV systems around the world and how their functions have advanced over the years. Yes, there is such a thing as Surveillance Studies, a discipline that focuses on researching the growing use of surveillance all over the globe. Surveillance Studies not only touches on camera surveillance, video baluns, biometrics, and border controls, it also discusses monitoring, tracking, and everything else that has to do with surveillance research.

Clive Norris, Mike McCahill, and David Wood surveyed the growth of closed-circuit television systems or CCTVs around the world and here is a brief summary of what the study revealed.

The United Kingdom, for example, is known to be the “the most surveilled country” in the whole of Western states, according to the Surveillance Studies Network. The research revealed that by 2003, around £250 million of public money have been used on CCTV, though some of the systems were also installed in schools, hospitals, and transport facilities. Currently, Norris and McCahill guestimate the total number of cameras in the UK to be around 4.2 million.

In Europe, the use of CCTV systems in public areas is commonly seen in shops, banks, restaurants, bars, and transport terminals. With the UK having over 40,000 surveillance systems in public spaces, European cities only probably have less than 1000.

In the United States, CCTV systems were first employed to monitor pedestrian traffic in downtown and residential districts. It grew in 2003, when parks, malls, monuments, and schools were also installed with surveillance systems. Just like Europe, the growth in surveillance system usage is more predominant across the private sector.

While this post focused on the more urbanized nations, next week we look at other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Russia, China, Japan, and more.

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