Inaugurated by Raymond Barre a few days after the municipal elections in spring 2001 as a result of a campaign strongly formated by security issues, the operation of CCTV in the centre of Lyons can be seen today as part and parcel of the security-oriented policies of the new local government led by the socialist Gérard Collomb. Through responding in part to the concerns and interests of those social groups which are more exposed the problems posed by crime (particularly shop keepers and nearby residents), implementing such a policy also contributes to the social construction of deviance. It not only acts to consolidate dominant social representations in the field of security, but the ways in which it is used lead to reformulation of the rules and social norms construing everyday practices and deviant behaviour in public space.