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The Deterrent Effect of Surveillance Cameras on Crime

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  • Santiago Tobón
  • Santiago Gómez
  • Daniel Mejía

Abstract

From the U.S. to Colombia to China, millions of public surveillance cameras are at the core of crime prevention strategies. Yet, we know little about the effects of surveillance cameras on criminal behavior, especially in developing economies. We study an installation program in Medellín and find that the quasi‐random allocation of cameras led to a decrease in crimes and arrests. With no increase in the monitoring capacity and no chance to use camera footage in prosecution, these results suggest offenders were deterred rather than incapacitated. We test for spillovers and find no evidence of crime displacement or diffusion of benefits to surrounding locations.
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Suggested Citation

  • Santiago Tobón & Santiago Gómez & Daniel Mejía, 2020. "The Deterrent Effect of Surveillance Cameras on Crime," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 18058, Universidad EAFIT.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000122:018058
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10784/15941
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mikael Priks, 2015. "The Effects of Surveillance Cameras on Crime: Evidence from the Stockholm Subway," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(588), pages 289-305, November.
    2. Kessler, Daniel P & Levitt, Steven D, 1999. "Using Sentence Enhancements to Distinguish between Deterrence and Incapacitation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 343-363, April.
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    7. Christopher Blattman & Donald P Green & Daniel Ortega & Santiago Tobón, 2021. "Place-Based Interventions at Scale: The Direct and Spillover Effects of Policing and City Services on Crime [Clustering as a Design Problem]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 2022-2051.
    8. Benjamin Hansen, 2015. "Punishment and Deterrence: Evidence from Drunk Driving," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1581-1617, April.
    9. Alberto Abadie & Susan Athey & Guido W Imbens & Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 1-35.
    10. Daniela Collazos & Eduardo García & Daniel Mejía & Daniel Ortega & Santiago Tobón, 2019. "Hot spots policing in a high crime environment: An experimental evaluation in Medellín," Documentos CEDE 17135, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    11. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1973. "Participation in Illegitimate Activities: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 521-565, May-June.
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    14. Ignacio Munyo & Martín A. Rossi, 2020. "Police‐Monitored Cameras and Crime," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(3), pages 1027-1044, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Mejía & Ervyn Norza & Santiago Tobón & Martín Vanegas-Arias, 2022. "Broken windows policing and crime: Evidence from 80 Colombian cities," Chapters, in: Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Vanin & Juan Vargas (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, chapter 4, pages 55-87, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Mateo Dulce Rubio, 2019. "Predicting criminal behavior with Lévy flights using real data from Bogotá," Documentos CEDE 17198, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Escobar, Maria A. & Tobón, Santiago & Vanegas-Arias, Martín, 2023. "Production and persistence of criminal skills: Evidence from a high-crime context," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Mateo Dulce Rubio, 2019. "Predicting criminal behavior with Levy flights using real data from Bogota," Documentos de Trabajo 17347, Quantil.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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