"Only criminals are afraid of CCTV"
Such a bad take.
In every low-wage job, I have had co-workers on edge that any minor company policy infraction caught on tape would be used against them.
I have had a mate lose a job because he was caught on camera taking a bite out of a hotdog that was being thrown away.
Surveillance is a double edged sword that seems just as likely to catch people making human mistakes as it does people engaged in criminality
@Clementulus that tracks with my experience. Most people who live criminal lifestyles know that the effort of using CCTV to track them down after committing an offence is not a justifiable expense.
Unless, as you say, it is a serious offence that the police need to be seen to be investigating properly.