Technology And Crime

I was talking recently to a minister who monitors security cameras in the Central Business District as his “day job”. I asked him why there has been a proliferation of technology to fight crime, yet no general reduction in crime. Someone else in the room said, to the effect: “You assume that the good guys install the cameras against the bad guys. Think again. It's a mix of good and bad throughout society.” The minister added: “But it need not be a direct link between the people who install the cameras and the crime. It may be indirect. There are a lot of people involved.” Did the cameras reveal any crime? I asked. “Yes,” he said, “even murder.”