Does CCTV
deter burglars?

What offenders say

When researchers ask convicted burglars what would make them skip a house, cameras come up near the top alongside alarms, dogs and signs the house is occupied. The reasoning is simple: the job takes minutes, the risk is being identified, and a camera is a direct threat to that. A visible camera with a light that comes on is a bigger deterrent than a discreet one — because it's obvious.

What crime studies say

Area-wide studies of public CCTV show modest reductions in property crime, stronger for car parks and vehicle crime than for street violence. Domestic studies are smaller, but the pattern is consistent: cameras change target selection. The burglar goes somewhere easier. That's cold comfort for the neighbours, but it's the point for you.

Where CCTV alone falls short

• Nobody's watching live. A camera records; it doesn't stop a door being forced. That's the alarm's job — a sensor on the door, a siren, and your phone buzzing.
• Bad night footage. Infrared gives a grey shape. If the camera can't identify anyone, it's a deterrent right up until someone tests it.
• Wrong positions. Two cameras on the front and nothing at the back is where most people start, and it's the wrong way round.

The combination that works

Cameras with colour night vision on the approaches, an alarm on the doors that alerts your phone, a doorbell camera that answers when someone knocks to check if you're home, and no hiding places. That's a house that gets skipped — and one that gives the police something usable if it isn't.