When video cassette recorders hit the market, video surveillance really hit its stride. Analog technology using taped video cassette recordings meant surveillance could be preserved on tape as evidence. The seventies saw an explosion around the world in the use of video surveillance in everything from law enforcement to traffic control and divorce proceedings. England installed video surveillance systems in four major Underground Train Stations in 1975 and began monitoring traffic flow on major highway arteries about the same time. In the United States, the use of video surveillance wasn’t quite as prevalent until the 1980’s for public areas, but store owners and banks quickly understood the value of it.
Businesses that were prone to theft, including banks, mini-marts and gas stations, began mounting video surveillance systems as a deterrent and in hopes of apprehending thieves, particularly in high crime areas. The insurance industry also found video surveillance compelling – worker’s compensation fraud, bogus accident claims and a variety of other cases began to turn in the industry’s favor when they could provide tapes of supposedly disabled workers doing the limbo at a family reunion.
