We’ve all heard of Neighbourhood Watch.

Well, a city in New Jersy in the US has taken this idea to a whole new level.

Officials in Newark have hooked up the city’s CCTV cameras to an online network, meaning anyone, anywhere, anytime can monitor the vision.

They’re calling it Citizen Virtual Patrol.

Police hope the extra surveillance will stamp out street crime but critics believe the system will have the opposite effect, fearing criminals will have easy ways of tracking their victims.

Former Newark police crime analyst Eric Piza tells Ben Fordham he isn’t convinced by the technology.

“The research evidence is actually not terribly supportive of CCTV cameras in public environments.

“Where cameras do seem to be most effective are places like carparks and really small confined places.

“In public places, the effectiveness of cameras is a little more hit and miss than people realise.

“The community watch, to me, isn’t appropriate because if you wanted to, right now from Sydney, you could log on and watch the streets of Newark.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview