CCTV 'not effective' in preventing drug-dealing

CCTV cameras have proved ineffective in preventing or detecting crimes including drug-dealing, graffiti and illegal dumping, Dublin City Council senior management has said.

The council has secured just 12 prosecutions using CCTV footage this year. All of these were for illegal dumping, but in all cases it was because a car registration had been caught on camera and not the culprit illegally dumping rubbish.

The council has four covert anti-dumping CCTV cameras, which it moves from place to place, depending on what areas are experiencing a dumping problem.

These are known as “passive” cameras in that they are not monitored in real-time but recorded material can be viewed after the event. These hidden cameras are set in a fixed position, requiring the culprit to be in-shot when the antisocial act takes place.

The council estimates that these cameras are effective in capturing about 10 per cent of incidents of dumping at any one location.

“Even when the dumping event is captured, on no occasion have we actually identified the culprit, as only individuals who know the person or persons involved can identify them, and most locals are reluctant to identify culprits,” executive city manager Charlie Lowe said. “To date we have only brought successful prosecutions with this method because of associated car registration numbers, which act as identifiers,” he said.

These cameras have no practical application in detecting other forms of antisocial behaviour and crime such as graffiti vandalism or drug-dealing, he said.

“This method is not effective in combating instances of drug dealing, as it does not provide any proof or useful footage that any item being exchanged (sold, dealt) is actually a proscribed drug,” Mr Lowe said.

So-called “active” CCTV cameras, which are monitored in real time, are used by the council for traffic management, however they are not used for the detection of antisocial behaviour, and were not suitable in an Irish legal context, Mr Lowe said.

“This system is not currently operational in Ireland, and while security companies can report break-ins captured on CCTV, in real time, to the gardaí, their response is wholly dependent on the resources available to them and their own prioritisation.

“Even if such a system existed, the gardaí would still have to catch the alleged culprit red-handed ie, in possession of illegal drugs,” he said. Mr Lowe was responding to a request from Labour councillor Emer Costello for CCTV cameras to be installed at Annesley Bridge overlooking Fairview Park in north Dublin, following a spate of vandalism of cars in the area.

Ms Costello said she was surprised and disappointed the council was so sceptical about their usefulness.

“I think the answer is quite shocking. Dublin City Council really seems to be saying that CCTV serves no useful purpose.”

Ms Costello said she had recently attended a community policing meeting where gardaí had been “very positive” about the use of CCTV. The Government had also supported the introduction of community CCTV schemes through the Pobal initiative, however this was of limited use in residential areas as the community had to raise 20 per cent of required funding which generally ran from €20,000 to €40,000, as the systems never cost less than €100,000, she said.