An Evaluation of the CCTV Scheme at Oslo Central Railway Station
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An Evaluation of the CCTV Scheme at Oslo Central Railway Station Stig Winge and Johannes Knutsson1 In an evaluation of a CCTV scheme introduced in the centre of Oslo outside the Central Railway Station, effects on public order, criminality and feelings of safety were studied. A significant increase in recorded incidents occurred in the monitored area, indicating an increased detection rate. Among the categories of crime, the only reduction occurred in robbery/theft from persons and possibly in bicycle thefts. Victimization surveys with local business before and after the onset of the scheme indicated small and mostly insignificant changes in perception of criminality, disorder and safety. Respondents still had faith in the effectiveness of the CCTV scheme, but to a lesser extent than before its introduction. Key Words: CCTV, CCTV schemes, CCTV evaluation, Oslo Police Department, crime reduction
Introduction Impressed by accounts from police in the UK, Oslo Police Department introduced a trial CCTV scheme in 1999. Politicians in Norway have been reluctant to accept CCTV programmes run by the police. The reason is fear that the privacy of individuals could come under threat. However, should CCTV prove to be effective in reducing crime and increasing feelings of safety, there may be a willingness to reassess this position. Therefore, as a condition for allowing the police to trial CCTV, the scheme had to be evaluated. The research unit at the National Police Academy was asked to carry out this evaluation.
Surveilled area The zone selected for camera coverage was determined to be the area just outside the Central Railway Station in the heart of Oslo. This area is best characterized as a typical city-centre district with shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs. It includes a large outdoor public square in the vicinity of a transport junction, with bus and tram stops, taxi ranks, parking places, a subway station and, of course, the main railway station. It is estimated that on a daily basis about 70,000 persons pass through the area. The vicinity of the railway station has become a meeting place for drug abusers. The congregation of drug addicts creates a visible and more or less constant problem. It may be expected that the study would encounter and capture both the degree and type of crime as well as problems of social order that exist within the context of a modern city centre.
CCTV scheme Six cameras are used and operated by a specially trained crew with their operations room located at the Central Station. There are direct links to Oslo police command
Copyright
2003 Perpetuity Press Ltd
Page 49
Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal
centre, which means that it is also possible to follow events on TV monitors at dispatch central in headquarters. The TV cameras provide for a more or less constant supervision of the area, the technique making it possible to detect and follow the development of single episodes from a distance. Information can be continually transmitted to police patrols that
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