Berkeley evaluation finds cameras cut nearby property crime but not violent crime; San Francisco sets deadline for department plan

A UC Berkeley evaluation of San Francisco's municipally owned Community Safety Camera Program presented to the Police Commission found a measurable, localized effect on property crime but no measurable impact on violent crime.

Jennifer King, a researcher with UC Berkeley School of Law, told the commission the team studied ordinance requirements, camera locations and crime statistics around the 71 city-owned cameras, interviewed more than 30 stakeholders, conducted site visits and compared San Francisco's program with other cities. "We looked at the number of times SFPD requested copies of recorded images, the number of times images were used to bring criminal charges and the result of those charges," King said, summarizing the project's scope.

Professor Rafael, the team's quantitative lead, described three empirical strategies the group used to isolate camera effects, including exploiting the staggered timing of camera installations and comparing crimes reported in public versus private locations. "Within about 100 feet of the camera we did indeed find evidence on all fronts that property crime declined by a statistically significant amount," Rafael said. He summarized the effect roughly as a 24% decline in property crime concentrated in public-place larceny and theft…