The Wall Street Journal’s William M. Bulkeley takes a look at Chicago’s massive proliferation of surveillance cameras: there are 1,500 police cameras pointed out “trouble spots” and then thousands of more cameras set up by other government agencies and the private sector. Probably no city in America has as many surveillance cameras in Chicago.

But it’s hard to quantify the impact of these cameras: if less crime occurs after a camera was put up, maybe that means the criminal activity moves elsewhere. That’s part of the reason that it’s not clear what — if any — impact cameras have in either the promise to strengthen law and order or the fear of civil liberties violations. The police departments points out that videotaped criminal actions make it easier to prosecute criminals. But the example they give is pretty weak: a shooting on a public bus where multiple witnesses could have provided the same testimony that a camera could. In any case, it’s not like the public bus camera deterred this particular shooting.

On the other hand, having cameras on buses or stores or street corners or everywhere is not necessarily bad either. One complaint is that the camera could be used by male officers to ogle women. A proposed solution is cameras to monitor the monitors. That’s pretty funny — and a great example if one wants to make the case of a surveillance society that’s spiraled out of control. But overall there’s not much evidence that Chicago cameras have been abused — or used for big public benefits.

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