Raising the Watchtower: Results from the ACCESS Task Force
The Alliance of Companies and Communities to Enhance Safety and Security (ACCESS) task force was established by LiveView Technologies to streamline research and development for their line of mobile surveillance units. The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) collaborated with retailers and law enforcement in two cities to investigate the effectiveness of surveillance towers in reducing various types of crime. We utilized a pre vs. post quasi-experimental study design to quantify changes in calls for service around the installed units. The study revealed that the placement of units was associated with a reduction in certain types of property crime, and these associations were further confirmed using spatial regression models. Additionally, we distributed a survey to community members to assess changes in their perceptions of safety.