Tensions in Security Partnerships: Observations of a City CCTV System and Its Partners on the Ground

• NCJ Number: 226952
• Journal: Crime Prevention and Community Safety Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2009 Pages: 90-103
• Author(s): Jill Jameson; Katie Strudwick
• Date Published: April 2009
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This paper examines the working relationships between the different practitioners who use the radio/closed-circuit television (CCT) link that monitors the local shopping precinct and aims to reflect on the tensions in practice between different practitioners in their interactions with the public, and the tensions between practitioners in their interactions with each other.

Abstract

Knowing the identified positive aspects of closed-circuit television (CCTV)/radio, various tensions between partners that have been identified in this research has the potential to result in a number of problematic implications. At one level these are related to differential practices towards the public, relating to the collection of and use of data, the definition and action by partners, towards those seen as troublesome, and the apparent lack of overall accountability, both in overseeing the collection of data about suspects, and in the interactions that security guards had with suspects. At another level the tensions seen between retail and security personnel had the effect of undermining the contributions of some partners. This ultimately meant that the CCTV/radio link was not being used to its maximum potential. The installation of CCTV systems has been heralded as a positive breakthrough by governments as one potential solution to reducing crime. However, this paper deliberates on the working relationships between the different practitioners who used the CCTV/radio link that monitored the local shopping precinct in an English city and aims to reflect on the tensions in practice between different practitioners in their interactions with the public and the tensions between practitioners in their interactions with each other. The paper is based on data gathered for an evaluation of a large public area CCTV system in an English city with interviews of security guards, shop assistants and camera operators, a survey of retail premises, and observations and data analysis from the camera control room. Notes and references