Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point-to-point, point-to-multipoint (P2MP), or mesh wired or wireless links. Even though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most often applied to those used for surveillance in areas that require additional security or ongoing monitoring (videotelephony is seldom called "CCTV").Verman, Romesh. Distance Education In Technological Age, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2005, pp.166, , ."Distance education in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings Of The Regional Seminar On Distance Education, 26 November – 3 December 1986", Asian Development Bank, Bangkok, Thailand, Volume 2, 1987
The deployment of this technology has facilitated significant growth in state surveillance, a substantial rise in methods of advanced social monitoring and control, and a host of crime prevention measures throughout the world. Though surveillance of the public using CCTV cameras is common in many areas around the world, video surveillance has generated significant debate about balancing its use with individuals' right to privacy even when in public.
In industrial plants, CCTV camera equipment may be used to observe parts of a process from a central control room, especially if the environments observed are dangerous or inaccessible to humans. CCTV systems may operate continuously or only as required to monitor a particular event. A more advanced form of CCTV, using digital video recorders (DVRs), provides recording for possibly many years, with a variety of quality and performance options and extra features (such as motion detection and email alerts). More recently, decentralized IP cameras, some equipped with megapixel sensors, support recording directly to network-attached storage devices or internal flash storage for stand-alone operation.
History
An early mechanical CCTV system was developed in June 1927 by Russian physicist Leon Theremin. Originally requested by CTO (the Soviet Council of Labor and Defense), the system consisted of a manually operated scanning-transmitting camera and wireless shortwave transmitter and receiver, with a resolution of a hundred lines. Having been commandeered by Kliment Voroshilov, Theremin's CCTV system was demonstrated to Joseph Stalin, Semyon Budyonny, and Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and subsequently installed in the courtyard of the Moscow Kremlin to monitor approaching visitors.
Another early CCTV system was installed by Siemens at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Nazi Germany, in 1942, for observing the launch of V-2 rockets.Dornberger, Walter: V-2, Ballantine Books 1954, ASIN: B000P6L1ES, page 14.
In the United States, the first commercial closed-circuit television system became available in 1949 from Remington Rand and designed by CBS Laboratories, called "Vericon". Vericon was advertised as not requiring a government permit due to the system using cabled connections between camera and monitor rather than over-the-air transmission. "Television Rides Wires" , February 1949, Popular Science small article, bottom of page 179
Technology The earliest video surveillance systems involved constant monitoring because there was no way to record and store information. The development of reel-to-reel media enabled the recording of surveillance footage. These systems required magnetic tapes to be changed manually, with the operator having to manually thread the tape from the tape reel through the recorder onto a take-up reel. Due to these shortcomings, video surveillance was not widespread.
Later, videocassette recorder technology became available in the 1970s, making it easier to record and erase information, and the use of video surveillance became more common. During the 1990s, digital multiplexing was developed, allowing several cameras to record at once, as well as time-lapse and motion-only recording. This saved time and money which then led to an increase in the use of CCTV. The first Internet based CCTV recording service was introduced commercially in the early 2000s and this also led to the first time CCTV could be viewed on a mobile phone in 2003. Since then, CCTV technology has been shifting towards Internet-based products and systems, and other technological developments. Following the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and the subsequent improvements in mobile bandwidth, remote viewing via mobile gradually became a common feature of CCTV systems.
Application Early CCTV systems were installed in central London by the Metropolitan Police between 1960 and 1965. By 1963, CCTV was being used in Munich to monitor traffic. Closed-circuit television was used as a form of pay-per-view theatre television for sports such as professional boxing and professional wrestling, and from 1964 through 1970, the Indianapolis 500 automobile race. Boxing telecasts were broadcast live to a select number of venues, mostly theaters, with arenas, stadiums, schools, and convention centres also being less often used venues, where viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live. The first fight with a closed-circuit telecast was Joe Louis vs. Jersey Joe Walcott II in 1948.
Closed-circuit telecasts peaked in popularity with Muhammad Ali in the 1960s and 1970s, with "The Rumble in the Jungle" fight drawing 50million CCTV viewers worldwide in 1974, and the "Thrilla in Manila" drawing 100million CCTV viewers worldwide in 1975. In 1985, the WrestleMania I professional wrestling show was seen by over one million viewers with this scheme. As late as 1996, the Julio César Chávez vs. Oscar De La Hoya boxing fight had 750,000 viewers.Chavez-De La Hoya Fight Is A Bout About Contrasts, Chicago Tribune article, 1996-06-07, Retrieved on 23 February 2015 Although closed-circuit television was gradually replaced by pay-per-view home cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, it is still in use today for most awards shows and other events that are transmitted live to most venues but do not air as such on network television, and later re-edited for broadcast.
In September 1968, Olean, New York, was the first city in the United States to install CCTV video cameras along its main business street in an effort to fight crime.[Robb, Gary C. (1979) "Police Use of CCTV Surveillance: Constitutional Implications and Proposed Regulations" University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. pg. 572] Marie Van Brittan Brown received a patent for the design of a CCTV-based home security system in 1969. (). Another early appearance was in 1973 in Times Square in New York City.[Yesil, Bilge. (2006) "Watching Ourselves" Cultural Studies. Vol 20(4-5) pp. 400-416] The NYPD installed it to deter crime in the area; however, crime rates did not appear to drop much due to the cameras. Nevertheless, during the 1980s, video surveillance began to spread across the country specifically targeting public areas.Roberts, Lucy. "History of Video Surveillance and CCTV " We C U Surveillance Retrieved 20 October 2011 It was seen as a cheaper way to deter crime compared to increasing the size of the police departments. Some businesses as well, especially those that were prone to theft, began to use video surveillance. From the mid-1990s on, police departments across the country installed an increasing number of cameras in various public spaces including housing projects, schools, and public parks. CCTV later became common in banks and stores to discourage theft by recording evidence of criminal activity. In 1997, 3,100 CCTV systems were installed in public housing and residential areas in New York City.
Experiments in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, including outdoor CCTV in Bournemouth in 1985, led to several larger trial programs later that decade. The first use by local government was in King's Lynn, Norfolk, in 1987.
Uses Crime prevention
A 2008 report by UK Police Chiefs concluded that only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV."Are CCTV cameras a waste of money in the fight against crime?" Forward Edge, 7 May 2008 In London, a Metropolitan Police report showed that in 2008 only one crime was solved per 1000 cameras. In some cases CCTV cameras have become a target of attacks themselves. A 2009 systematic review by researchers from Northeastern University and the University of Cambridge used meta-analytic techniques to pool the average effect of CCTV on crime across 41 different studies. The studies included in the meta-analysis used quasi-experimental evaluation designs that involved before-and-after measures of crime in experimental and control areas. However, researchers have argued that the British car park studies included in the meta-analysis cannot accurately control for the fact that CCTV was introduced simultaneously with a range of other security-related measures. Second, some have noted that, in many of the studies, there may be issues with selection bias since the introduction of CCTV was potentially endogenous to previous crime trends. In particular, the estimated effects may be biased if CCTV is introduced in response to crime trends.
In 2012, cities such as Manchester in the UK are using DVR-based technology to improve accessibility for crime prevention. In 2013, City of Philadelphia Auditor found that the $15 million system was operational only 32% of the time. There is anecdotal evidence that CCTV aids in detection and conviction of offenders; for example, UK police forces routinely seek CCTV recordings after crimes."Police are failing to recover crucial CCTV footage, new figures suggest", The Daily Telegraph Cameras have also been installed on public transport in the hope of deterring crime.
A 2017 review published in the Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention compiles seven studies that use such research designs. The studies found that CCTV reduced crime by 24–28% in public streets and urban subway stations. It also found that CCTV could decrease unruly behaviour in football stadiums and theft in supermarkets/mass merchant stores. However, there was no evidence of CCTV having desirable effects in parking facilities or suburban subway stations. Furthermore, the review indicates that CCTV is more effective in preventing property crimes than in violent crimes. However, a 2019, 40-year-long systematic review study reported that the most consistent effects of crime reduction of CCTV were in car parks.
A more open question is whether most CCTV is cost-effective. While low-quality domestic kits are cheap, the professional installation and maintenance of high definition CCTV is expensive. Gill and Spriggs did a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of CCTV in crime prevention that showed little monetary saving with the installation of CCTV as most of the crimes prevented resulted in little monetary loss. Critics however noted that benefits of non-monetary value cannot be captured in a traditional cost effectiveness analysis and were omitted from their study.