Prevention of Street Delinquency through Video Cameras: Regulation and Effectiveness (La Prevención de la Delincuencia Callejera Mediante Videocámaras: Regulación Jurídica y Eficacia)

Abstract:     
The study starts with a political-criminal analysis of new tendencies in spatial control, for both dangerous and supposedly dangerous people, and for places of public coexistence, developed in order to prevent delinquency or other socially disturbing behavior. Then, the study centers in the use of video-vigilance systems in public places: the way in which relevant Spanish legislation controls its uses for and only for crime prevention and serious administrative offenses is analyzed, as well as how said legislation guarantees citizens’ rights of free access to public places, and their rights to privacy and intimacy. Finally, the study describes the results of a pioneering empirical study in Spain, developed in the city of Málaga, which strived to verify the effectiveness of video cameras installed in public places, in preventing delinquency and creating feelings of security among citizens.

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 25

Keywords: Video-surveillance, electronic control of people and public spaces, rights to privacy and to intimacy in public places, crime prevention

Accepted Paper Series