An evaluation of CCTV in a car park using police and insurance data

A non-monitored closed-circuit television (CCTV) pilot project commenced at the Scott Road Skytrain Station Park and Ride in Surrey, BC in August 2009. The pilot project was implemented by the City of Surrey and scheduled for 1 year. This article reports on an evaluation of the CCTV system with respect to its ability to reduce vehicle-related crime at the pilot site. Using police and insurance data, the evaluation considers the trends of vehicle-related crimes over several years in the City of Surrey and the northern district of the Corporation of Delta, BC. In general, there is little evidence of a significant drop in vehicle-related crime that can be attributed to the CCTV system. Moreover, we show that the results are dependent on the methods used for evaluation; this is critical because we show that a more commonly used method (that we consider inappropriate) indicates a significant drop in vehicle-related crime.