The Purposes of CCTV in Prison

View/ Open
Author(s)
Allard, Troy
Wortley, Richard
Stewart, Anna
Year published
2006
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Research was conducted to determine the purposes of closed circuit television ("CCTV") surveillance in prison. Despite the significant financial investments in CCTV and apparent satisfaction with performance, few studies have explored why CCTV is in prison. Research conducted in community settings suggests that the purposes of CCTV are prevention, detection, improving safety, gathering evidence, and acting as a general site management tool. Content analysis of legislation and procedure, physical audits of prisons (n=4), and interviews with managers (n=4) were conducted to determine why CCTV was in prison. Overall, the findings ...
View more >Research was conducted to determine the purposes of closed circuit television ("CCTV") surveillance in prison. Despite the significant financial investments in CCTV and apparent satisfaction with performance, few studies have explored why CCTV is in prison. Research conducted in community settings suggests that the purposes of CCTV are prevention, detection, improving safety, gathering evidence, and acting as a general site management tool. Content analysis of legislation and procedure, physical audits of prisons (n=4), and interviews with managers (n=4) were conducted to determine why CCTV was in prison. Overall, the findings suggested that CCTV was in prison as a means of detecting and/or preventing highly specific behaviours (such as contraband entering prison, self-harm or suicide, and escape), as a means of identification for remote access control, and to facilitate the co-ordination of responses to incidents, gather evidence, and improve safety.
View less >
View more >Research was conducted to determine the purposes of closed circuit television ("CCTV") surveillance in prison. Despite the significant financial investments in CCTV and apparent satisfaction with performance, few studies have explored why CCTV is in prison. Research conducted in community settings suggests that the purposes of CCTV are prevention, detection, improving safety, gathering evidence, and acting as a general site management tool. Content analysis of legislation and procedure, physical audits of prisons (n=4), and interviews with managers (n=4) were conducted to determine why CCTV was in prison. Overall, the findings suggested that CCTV was in prison as a means of detecting and/or preventing highly specific behaviours (such as contraband entering prison, self-harm or suicide, and escape), as a means of identification for remote access control, and to facilitate the co-ordination of responses to incidents, gather evidence, and improve safety.
View less >
Journal Title
Security Journal
Volume
19
Issue
1
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2006 Palgrave Macmillan. This is the author's post-peer-review version of an article published in Security Journal. The definitive publisher-authenticated version, Vol. 19(1), pp. 58-70 is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/Palgrave.sj.8350009
Subject
Criminology