I don't think it's that deep. It's just ignorant/stupid people falling for clever sales tactics. Most people aren't equipped to evaluate an AI product offering like this, and the salespeople know how to exploit that.

bay area, california. we had a gang problem the decade prior. the subsequent decade, not so much. i'd be hesitant about the tradeoff (it was far more than security cameras), but we went from five killings a year to one and that's with population growth.