CYFOR Blog

How effective is CCTV technology? Turns out CCTV technology is a very effective tool

Although using CCTV pictures in the detection of crime has come under criticism, police officers and industry experts, such as CYFOR, claim the technology is still a vital crime-fighting tool.

Recent reports in national newspapers claim that just one crime a year is solved for every 1,000 cameras in the UK.  DS Mick McNally of the Metropolitan Police disagrees and states that this figure is inaccurate as it’s based on a speculative figure that there are over four million cameras.  When local authority and private cameras are removed this figure is nearer 60,000.

“CCTV technology is a very effective tool”, says DS McNally.  “It regularly helps to identify victims, witnesses and suspects of criminal activity and can prove that a crime has not been committed.”

Although in its original state the quality of CCTV footage may not be sufficiently good for the purpose of identification, an audio visual specialist such as CYFOR can de-multiplex, enhance, slow down or produce stills of the footage as required.

Poor quality pictures are no longer an issue although the better the quality of the image, obviously the better the chance of success.