Much research has examined the crime reduction benefits of public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, suggesting that cameras may not deter enough crime to justify their cost. Another benefit of CCTV though is its utility in investigations and in clearing cases, which has been much less studied. Using the data of public surveillance cameras and case clearances in Dallas, Texas, along with a pre-post-research design, we examine the efficacy that public CCTV cameras increase case clearance rates. We find that cases closer to cameras did have an increased clearance rate after the cameras were installed. But the effects faded quite quickly in space and were mostly limited to thefts. While our estimates here suggest the cameras are likely not cost-effective in terms of increasing clearances, it suggests there is potential to be more targeted in camera placement that might provide better justification for their (limited) use.

许多研究已经检验了公共闭路电视 (CCTV) 摄像机减少犯罪的好处，这表明摄像机可能无法阻止足够的犯罪来证明其成本是合理的。闭路电视的另一个好处是它在调查和清算案件中的效用，而这方面的研究却少得多。使用德克萨斯州达拉斯的公共监控摄像机和案件清除数据，以及事前研究设计，我们检验了公共闭路电视摄像机提高案件清除率的功效。我们发现，在安装了摄像头后，靠近摄像头的箱子确实有更高的清除率。但这种影响在太空中很快消失，而且主要限于盗窃。虽然我们在这里的估计表明，就增加清关而言，这些摄像机可能不具有成本效益，