I know the article is about the US use case, but cities like London (in Europe) and Beijing (in Asia) fit most of the criteria you mention and are incredibly closely surveiled. I suspect that if someone wants to deploy mass survillance they are going to find reasons no matter the on-the-ground reality.

Too much crime? You need 24/7 surveillance to cut that. No crime to speak of? Let’s put cameras all over the place to keep it that way.