<P> Recently CCTV technology has been enhanced with a shift toward Internet - based products and systems, and other technological developments . </P> <P> In September 1968, Olean, New York was the first city in the United States to install video cameras along its main business street in an effort to fight crime . Another early appearance was in 1973 in Times Square in New York City . The NYPD installed it in order to deter crime that was occurring in the area; however, crime rates did not appear to drop much due to the cameras . Nevertheless, during the 1980s video surveillance began to spread across the country specifically targeting public areas . It was seen as a cheaper way to deter crime compared to increasing the size of the police departments . Some businesses as well, especially those that were prone to theft, began to use video surveillance . From the mid-1990s on, police departments across the country installed an increasing number of cameras in various public spaces including housing projects, schools and public parks departments . CCTV later became common in banks and stores to discourage theft, by recording evidence of criminal activity . In 1998, 3,000 CCTV systems were in use in New York City . A study by Nieto in 2008 found many businesses in the United States had invested heavily in video surveillance technology to protect products and promote safe workplace and consumer environments . A nationwide survey of a wide variety of companies found that 75 percent utilize CCTV surveillance . In private sector CCTV surveillance technology is operated in a wide variety of establishments such as in industry / manufacturing, retailing, financial / insurance / banking, transportation and distribution, utilities / communications, health care, and hotels / motels . </P> <P> Experiments in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, including outdoor CCTV in Bournemouth in 1985, led to several larger trial programs later that decade . The first use by local government was in King's Lynn, Norfolk, in 1987 . These were deemed successful in the government report "CCTV: Looking Out For You", issued by the Home Office in 1994, and paved the way for an increase in the number of CCTV systems installed . Today, systems cover most town and city centres, and many stations, car - parks and estates . </P> <P> A 2009 systematic review by researchers from Northeastern University and University of Cambridge used meta - analytic techniques to pool the average effect of CCTV on crime across 41 different studies . The results indicated that </P>

When were cctv cameras first used in the uk