The Philadelphia Panopticon

So, as CBS3 reports, Philadelphia will litter the street sides with cameras,

Philadelphia will be getting 250 additional surveillance cameras in various locations throughout the city, Mayor Street announced Monday.

The announcement was made during a morning news conference at City Hall.

Street said it is a major expansion of the high-tech crime-fighting program which has already placed 18 cameras at 7th Street and Girard Avenue and other locations.

The expansion will cost nearly $10 million. But a Temple University professor said the cameras need to be out in the open to deter crime.

"If people are caught on cameras they just about always pled guilty," said Jerry Ratcliffe, Criminal Justice Professor at Temple University.

Ratcliff published a recent study for the Department of Justice looking at how effective surveillance cameras are at preventing crime. His findings included when trying to prevent violence crimes surveillance cameras are effective, but not as effective as they are in preventing more premeditating crimes like robbery.

"Crimes of violence are often instant. They are reactive. They're often crimes of passion and people don't think so clearly then," Ratcliffe said.

"People will get the message that the cameras are out there and if you intend to get involved in some kind of activity you better look around first and maybe rethink it," John Gaittens, Deputy Police Commissioner said.

Starting in a few weeks, the new additional cameras will first be installed in West Philadelphia near 52nd and Market Street.

"I envision cameras in just every district of the city down the road," Gaittens said.

The city has partnered with a private company to install and maintain the system. The city will designate a special committee to over see the system to make sure it is not abused.

The notion is that if there's always an eye on you, the idea of being watched and thus caught is deterrent enough to stop crime. It's the idea of the Panopticon and obviously is controversial. Sure, it might deter crime on that corner where the camera's on display to all... so, as a even semi-smart criminal, why not move down a couple of blocks to the uncovered corner? What's the solution then? More cameras? Canvas the city with every-watching eyes?

Well, no, but the way Philly implements the idea... yes, that would be the only solution. If the city were to really want the program to work, then it shouldn't announce what areas will get cameras or areas that already have it - as well as persuade the press to not list out the specific sites. This is the only way to make such an operation work - to have the PERCEPTION of being watched more to deter crime rather than the ASSURANCE of being filmed.