The Atmosphere of CCTV: Visibility, Narrative, Encounter Caitlin Overington

THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE The atmosphere of CCTV: visibility, narrative, encounter Caitlin Overington ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3840-3062 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 School of Social and Political Sciences (Criminology) Faculty of Arts University of Melbourne Produced on archival quality paper Abstract Departing from traditional research that measures the impact of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) as a crime prevention tool, this thesis interrogates its lesser-known effects in the city. While international evidence continues to demonstrate that CCTV does not prevent interpersonal crime, investment in this surveillance technology endures. Public support, often intensified in moments of extreme and public violence, also endures. The murder of Jill Meagher in 2012 is a primary example. Across Australia, public CCTV networks were (re)invested in after CCTV footage of Meagher and her killer emerged in the media. Far from demonstrating the failure of CCTV to protect Meagher, the footage guaranteed the persistence of CCTV, and facilitated further expansion of security camera networks. Such a dynamic of reinvestment after spectacular criminal event can be found elsewhere, notably in cities in the United Kingdom. This thesis contributes a framework for understanding this and other paradoxes of CCTV. As a security camera and as a producer of a visual image, CCTV is often used to make narrative sense of violence, without a concomitant understanding of how its restricted framing of the city contributes to heightened anxieties about danger. Urban places are far more than just inanimate spaces. Concepts of the city are being created and recreated in a complex way, as people move through it, during day and night. Experiences of light and darkness, gender, narrative, and memory combine with surveillance technologies in unexpected ways. Extensive evidence demonstrates that if CCTV was intended to prevent crime or to produce safer streets, it fails. However, recent research also suggests that the uses of CCTV are expanding, through its use as a method of identification of suspects after ii the commission of crime and through an increasing sense that it can assist in the governance of public spaces. The purpose of CCTV has thus evolved far from its role as a simple crime prevention tool. Engaging with emergent research methods and theoretical paradigms in criminology, this thesis elucidates the continuing consequences of CCTV for everyday life in contemporary cities. It contributes to an ongoing critical analysis of governmental and private investment in CCTV, and focuses questions around the interconnectedness of CCTV use with broader securitisation strategies within surveillance networks, many of which are targeted towards the monitoring of marginalised populations. Read within the broader social, political, and historical context of CCTV in Melbourne, this thesis shows that CCTV produces a city that cannot ‘see’ without it. iii Declaration of Authorship This is to certify that: i. The thesis comprises only my original work towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, ii. Due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used, iii. The thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices as approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee Caitlin Overington iv Acknowledgements Completing a PhD is a significant milestone, and has been a transformative experience. More than words on a page, the PhD process has meant opportunities to travel, to engage with people from around the world, to be given space to think and reflect, and to offer something of worth and meaning for the world around me. For this, and for many other reasons, I am immensely grateful to the University of Melbourne for investing their time and resources in me. Special mention to the Research Unit in Public Cultures, the School of Social and Political Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts, each of who bestowed significant funds in order for me to complete this project. To my primary supervisor, Professor Alison Young, thank you for your unwavering support and guidance. I recall countless meetings, in both this journey and throughout my Honours year, where I entered your office feeling unsure of my progress, only to leave feeling even more motivated and inspired to continue. To my secondary supervisor, Associate Professor John Fitzgerald, I thank you for sharing your expansive knowledge across disciplines. A special thank you also to my panel chair, Professor Janine O’Flynn. Your words of encouragement, and care in ensuring that I had a smooth candidature are much appreciated. The criminology community at Melbourne University is the product of consistent endeavours of students and staff to create bonds. This has meant a joyful range of reading groups, writing groups, end-of-semester events, and online discussion boards. Being part v of this has given me grounding, and has been a comfort in what could otherwise be an isolating experience. Within this cohort, I have been privileged to work closely alongside Dr James Petty. You are a trove of knowledge, and I thank you not only for this, but for the countless coffee and chocolate breaks we managed to sneak in throughout the past few years. I look forward to our future collaborations. Thank you also to Dr Adam Molnar, Dr Anastasia Powell, Dr Dave McDonald, Dr Bianca Fileborn, Dr Peter Chambers, Dr Rob Cameron, and countless others, each of who provided words of encouragement, advice throughout my candidature, and who gave me remarkable opportunity to develop teaching and research skills beyond my PhD. You’ve set me up well. To my close friends, I cherish that you take genuine interest in my work. A special thanks to Brighid Sammon, Dani Jewson, Emily Hobbs, Fiona Skidmore, Hannah Barber, and Seb Mulder. Thank you also to Kelsey Oldham, Dr Chris Honig, Rachael Burgin, Maddy Ulbrick, and Beau Curran for volunteering to proofread my drafts. To my family, and especially to my mother, you know me best. This project would not have been completed without the numerous participants, each of who gave up their time without remuneration to share experiences, practices and insights into their city. I am forever grateful for your generosity. vi I reserve my final acknowledgement for a woman I never met, but who has shaped my world significantly – to Jill Meagher. I find it difficult to find any words that would be appropriate or comforting to you and your family. All I may say is, I hope that I have treated your memory with the respect and ethics that it deserves. vii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................................. ii Declaration of Authorship ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................ v List of figures .................................................................................................................................................... x Chapter One ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 Violence and CCTV in the city .................................................................................................................... 1 A brief history of CCTV .............................................................................................................................................. 9 CCTV: new ways to measure and respond to its intervention ............................................................... 17 Chapter Two ................................................................................................................................................... 23 Conceptualising the city ............................................................................................................................ 23 Governing public space .......................................................................................................................................... 25 The night, ambience and atmosphere .............................................................................................................. 34 Gender, narrative and memory .......................................................................................................................... 42 Surveillance and security ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Inter-visibilities ......................................................................................................................................................... 68 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................... 72 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................................ 73 Ways of Reading the City .......................................................................................................................... 73 Choosing

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