Whilst the burglary rates in the Netherlands have been steadily dropping, the demand for security systems is increasing. More and more people decide to secure their houses using costly and technical systems. Whether these investments in security are also actual investments in more safety is questionable. Marc Schuilenburg, Professor of Digital Surveillance at Erasmus School of Law, considers the advantages and disadvantages of the demand for security in a recent broadcast of Nieuwsuur. He also sheds light on the possible paradoxical consequences of increasing technical security.
Dutch burglary rates of the past years give a hopeful impression. There is a general decline in the number of burglaries; specifically, the number of burglaries has decreased by more than 70 per cent since 2012. Despite these numbers, the Dutch increased their spending on technical security systems by 24 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021. Proper home security starts with decent hinges and locks, but most homeowners do not stop there. They also invest in expensive security systems, smart doorbells, and cameras. The security systems, in particular, are popular and earned security companies 236 million euros last year.
How profitable are security systems?
According to Schuilenburg, security systems could have a positive effect in two ways. “On the one hand, it might get burglars out of the house quicker, which would shorten the time of a burglary and therefore could affect their loot.” Another advantage lies, according to Schuilenburg, in the bigger chance of being caught. “Using security footage, the chance increases for persons to be traced down. And maybe, this could even help get your possessions back”, explains the Professor of Digital Surveillance. However, Schuilenburg is critical: “you will not prevent a burglary with security systems.”
Success paradox and lack of social control
Schuilenburg puts both the decrease in burglaries and the increase in demand for security systems in a broader perspective. He points to what he calls the ‘success paradox’: “the safer society gets, the more hysterical we react to the last scraps of unsafety that are still left.” To deal with the last bits of unsafety, people increasingly resort to technique and less to their fellow man. “This development leads to a weird paradox. If we solely trust technical systems, our homes will turn into digital fortresses and the neighbourhood into some digital hub, whilst we know that neighbourhoods with strong social bonds and a strong type of internal monitoring have a slimmer risk of burglary”, notes Schuilenburg.
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Click here for the clip of Nieuwsuur (starts at 35m00s, in Dutch).