Honolulu Wants To Put More Cameras In Public Parks To Reduce Crime

Many more of Honolulu’s parks would be subject to video surveillance under a one-year pilot program recently approved by the City Council. But it’s unclear when the rollout will begin because the city still needs to identify funding sources, according to council member Radiant Cordero, who introduced the resolution.

The city did not respond to a range of other questions on the timeline, cost and installation details. The resolution doesn’t specify when work needs to begin and Cordero said via email she is working with the Honolulu Police Department, the city’s Department of Information Technology and the City Council to get the money for the program.

Click to read

‘More of a Band-Aid’: US cities canceling ShotSpotter due to cost, efficacy questions

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As U.S. cities grapple with gun violence, city leaders and law enforcement agencies have approached the issue in a myriad of ways, including investing in community-based organizations and nonprofits that focus on violence prevention efforts to address the root causes.

More than 170 law enforcement agencies have sought help in the form of ShotSpotter, according to SoundThinking, the California-based company that sells the technology. The gunshot detection system uses acoustic sensor microphones placed in designated areas to identify and locate gunfire and notify police within 60 seconds.

Many law enforcement agencies have praised ShotSpotter for cutting down response times to shooting scenes and getting aid to victims more quickly. Others later canceled their ShotSpotter contracts or chose not to renew them, citing a low confirmation of shootings, the cost, and its underwhelming effect on gun violence.

Click to Read

Can Place-Based Crime Prevention Impacts Be Sustained Over Long Durations? 11-Year Follow-up of a Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a CCTV Project

Eric L. Piza, Brandon C. Welsh, Savannah A. Reid, and David N. Hatten (2025)

Criminology & Public Policy

Research Brief
Version of Record (Open Access)

Key Takeaways

  • The research addresses concerns about whether CCTV interventions provide lasting crime reduction effects.
  • CCTV had a statistically significant impact on reducing auto theft in the intermediate term (3–4 years). However, the short-term (1–2 years) reduction was only marginally significant, and in the long-term (9–11 years), the deterrent effect attenuated.
  • The findings suggest a “sleeper effect,” where deterrence from CCTV took time to develop before becoming significant. Over time, however, deterrence began to decay, indicating that CCTV effect diminishes over time.
  • The study suggests that policymakers should not rely solely on short-term studies when assessing CCTV, as longer follow-ups may reveal more nuanced effects.

Research Summary

This study investigates the long-term impact of a large-scale CCTV surveillance project in Newark, New Jersey, to determine whether its crime prevention effects persist, diminish, or evolve over time. Using a quasi-experimental design with microsynthetic control matching, the study assesses the effects of CCTV on violent and property crimes over short-term (1–2 years), intermediate-term (3–4 years), and long-term (9–11 years) periods.

One of the key findings is that CCTV significantly reduced auto theft in the intermediate term, with a statistically significant decrease observed 3–4 years post-implementation. The short-term impact on auto theft was less pronounced, only approaching statistical significance (p = 0.08). Interestingly, this suggests a “sleeper effect,” where the deterrent impact of CCTV takes time to develop. However, by the long-term period (9–11 years), the deterrence effect on auto theft had subsided, aligning with what criminologists describe as “deterrence decay.”

Another important observation is the potential displacement of certain crimes, though these findings only approached statistical significance. In the short-term period, robbery showed signs of displacement (p = 0.09), while theft from auto appeared to increase in the long term (p = 0.06). This phenomenon suggests that offenders may adapt their behavior based on the perceived risks of CCTV surveillance.

The study builds upon prior evaluations of CCTV effectiveness, many of which have been criticized for relying on short-term analyses. By extending the follow-up period to over a decade, the study provides valuable insights into the sustainability of CCTV’s crime prevention benefits. It highlights the importance of distinguishing between immediate and long-term effects, as interventions that initially seem ineffective may yield significant deterrence over time, while those that show early success may eventually wane.

Policymakers should be cautious when making decisions based on short-term studies, as they may not capture the full trajectory of crime prevention effects. Additionally, the study suggests that static CCTV coverage might not be sufficient in sustaining crime deterrence over extended periods. Integrating CCTV with proactive law enforcement strategies, such as directed patrols, may enhance its effectiveness in the long run.

Despite its contributions, the study acknowledges limitations, including the inability to track when individual cameras were inoperative and the challenge of accounting for all environmental variables influencing crime trends. Nonetheless, it represents one of the most comprehensive long-term evaluations of CCTV to date, reinforcing the argument that crime prevention effects are dynamic and require ongoing assessment.

In conclusion, the research provides evidence that CCTV can produce significant crime reductions, particularly for auto theft, but its effectiveness varies over time. The study’s findings on deterrence decay and displacement effects offer critical insights for policymakers and law enforcement agencies considering CCTV as a long-term crime prevention strategy. It underscores the importance of continuous evaluation and adaptation of surveillance measures to ensure sustained effectiveness in crime reduction.

Advanced Security Cameras Give Cities New Ways to Deter Vandalism and Theft

The prank sounds harmless enough: High school students wait until dark, pour soap into a public fountain and laugh as it fills up with bubbles. But when it happened 17 times in one year — ruining several $30,000 pumps and requiring a two-day cleanup process each time — city officials in Opelika, Ala., began searching for a tech solution to put an end to the hijinks.

Click to Read

As ShotSpotter rolls out in Tacoma, feelings over gunshot detection technology remain mixed

In an effort to curb gun crime, Tacoma announced last year that it was turning to a tool called ShotSpotter. ShotSpotter is a form of Gun Detection Technology (GDT), which uses a series of acoustic microphone sensors to track loud bangs, booms, and pops in a designated area. Once those “dynamic events” are triggered, a human classifier verifies the sound was a gunshot and alerts local police. The entire process happens within 60 seconds or less. 

To learn more, Soundside spoke with a group of community advocates who’ve spoken against the technology at ShotSpotter information sessions in Tacoma; Alfred Lewers Jr., the Senior Director of Trauma Response and Community Engagement at SoundThinking; and Eric Piza, a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston who’s studied the use of ShotSpotter in major cities like Chicago and Kansas City. 

Click to listen

Eric Piza named Lipman Family Chair in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Eric Piza, a professor of criminology and criminal justice, has been named the new Lipman Family Chair in Northeastern University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Established in 1999 by Ira Lipman, the founder of private security company Guardsmark, the Lipman Family Chair supports the work of Northeastern academics whose research and instruction in criminology and criminal justice has real-world impacts.

Click to read

AI gunshot detection technology at UMD raises concerns about false positives, policing

UMPD has spent more than $135,000 on AI gunshot detection with payments spanning 2017 to 2023, despite concerns about the technology’s accuracy, according to records obtained by The Diamondback.

University of Maryland Police use ShotSpotter — an artificial intelligence-based acoustic gunshot detection system owned by the technology company SoundThinking — to alert campus police in the event of an active shooter. But experts and activists urge caution when deploying this technology due to concerns about false positives and public safety.

Click to Read