Channels, Fall 2018

Page 130 Warder • Eyes on the Money terrorist attacks” that has “led to rapid diffusion of CCTV” (pg. 114) in urban centers. In discussion of the PRC, the authors examine the Communist Party’s Golden Shield Project and note how it is “leading to the deployment of video surveillance cameras on an unprecedented scale” (pg. 116) with the simple justification of “to deter crime and maintain social order.” This corresponds with what Zhang and Huang, two Chinese surveillance policy experts, (2016) write in regard to the PRC’s surveillance policy, describing how the overarching goal remains the creation of more “safe cities” and “smart cities” and how to the Chinese government, “issues of public security have become much more important” (pg. 6). Overall, the trend in this context appears to be that the PRC is well into stage three and possibly already into stage four, with its Golden Shield Project goals of comprehensive monitoring systems throughout urban centers, while the USA may only be at stage two or working through stage three, with a greater emphasis for current CCTV development being placed mainly upon key economic centers that have been jeopardized in recent history, such as Washington D.C. and New York City. The U.S. Government Accountability Office report (2003) on Federal surveillance practices in the US, specifically in the nation’s capital, correlated to this trend in its statement that the “District of Columbia’s CCTV system was implemented… to facilitate crowd management during large demonstrations; however, officials indicated that the system could also be used to help combat terrorism” (pg. 2), further stating that the purpose of the D.C. CCTV network “is to facilitate crowd management and allocate police resources during major public events and demonstrations with the intended purpose of deterring crime such as destruction of property” (pg. 3). The report also indicated that “The system is also used to coordinate traffic control on an as- needed basis,” demonstrating that CCTV networks are being implemented as a means of protection for important national economic centers, be it in the form of law enforcement, crowd management, or simple traffic control. The Journal of Experimental Criminology contributors Piza, Gilchrist, Caplan, Kennedy, and O'Hara’s (2016) work furthers the discussion on the practicality of CCTV networks for providing greater safety for urban environments by examining in detail the financial implications of “proactive CCTV monitoring” (pg. 403). They concluded that CCTV networks are financially practical, in that the “direct costs of the intervention inputs were completely offset by the benefits generated by the crime reduction” (pg. 420), meaning that the cost of utilizing CCTV networks as a primary source of law enforcement and crime reduction actually creates a net benefit in cost when the overall cost of crime is considered. Justice Quarterly contributing scholars Welsh and Farrington (2009) conducted a similar study that focused on urban law enforcement and CCTV crime reduction in car parks, finding similarly that such networks are beneficial as a law enforcement tool. They stated in their conclusion that “the potential benefit of CCTV in reducing crime by deterring offenders from committing an illegal activity may be much lower on its list of priorities than the apprehension of suspects who were caught on camera committing a crime” (pg. 739), which makes an important point as to the chronological particulars of crime prevention (deterring perpetrators vs. tracking them down for punishment later), though with the same end result of reducing crime rates. Surveillance policy scholars Norris and Armstrong’s (1999) book covers a great deal of the history of CCTV implementation, and further point to this trend by pointing out that CCTV technology companies first introduced the technology “into the retail sector primarily as a means of deterring and apprehending shoplifters” (pg. 18). Not only does this statement resonate with the theme of CCTV for urban protection, but also corresponds to the previously-outlined four-step proliferation process laid out by McCahill, Norris and Wood. Norris and Armstrong also highlight the importance of recognizing that “technologies of mass surveillance can be harnessed to encourage participation rather than exclusion, strengthen personhood rather than diminish it” (pg. 230). In essence, surveillance for the sake of security should not create a society where people are afraid to behave as individuals and live to their fullest potential within