Interesting People mailing list archives
surveillance cams are watching (still)
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 04:27:28 -0500
ux10.sp.cs.cmu.edu From: Bradley Malin <malin () cs cmu edu> Interesting read. You should check out the link too for sample images (;->) I think one of my favorite quotes from this article is: "Law enforcement officials said there is no firm evidence suggesting surveillance cameras have lowered crime rates. But many believe they act as a deterrent." -brad http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/02/23lotsofcameraswa.html Lots of cameras watch you - and catch criminals Police say surveillance video captures your image about 12 times each day By TERRI SANGINITI Staff reporter 02/23/2004 Surveillance cameras no longer are relegated to banks and convenience stores. They are in bars and supermarkets, over highways and in buses. They seem to be everywhere: recording images blurry and crisp, often with the date and time clearly displayed. The average American is captured on video about a dozen times a day, police estimate. And that has caused video surveillance cameras to become an increasingly important law enforcement tool in Delaware and across the country. From crimes committed in a crowded bank to those pulled off on a desolate street corner, police now routinely look into whether there was a camera near the crime scene. Earlier this month, police captured a man accused of kidnapping and killing an 11-year-old Sarasota, Fla., girl after video taken by a surveillance camera at a Florida car wash was broadcast. Someone recognized the man leading the girl away. "When video evidence clearly depicts the identity of the perpetrator, the case is less likely to go to trial because it is much more likely the perpetrator will plead guilty," state prosecutor Steven P. Wood said. Often, surveillance images are being used by police for purposes that weren't intended by those who installed the cameras. Paul Ford, assistant systems safety and security manager for DART, said the state equipped each of the agency's 190 buses with cameras to discourage bogus claims in liability cases. Each bus has five cameras monitoring the inside and outside the bus. Police quickly saw the value in them, Ford said. DART has had about 10 requests from police departments asking if the agency had a bus in the area when a crime occurred. "We determine what bus was involved, go out and hook up a laptop, and have video of the location and time frame they're looking for," Ford said. Last fall, a 21-year-old woman allegedly was raped in a Newark motel room by a man she met on a DART bus. Newark police quickly arrested a suspect using images from one of the bus cameras. Most retailers have installed cameras to cut down on shoplifting and employee theft. But police often scan the images when investigating more serious crimes. Cameras at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Dover captured the images of two men buying 15 feet of chain last September. The tape proved to be key in finding the man police have charged with killing Kimberly Holton, a 16-year-old whose body was found in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape May bound in chains. In some cases, cameras have helped rule out the possibility of a crime. When an 88-year-old man was found dead outside the Claymont Community Center last month, police determined he had fallen. The fall and his subsequent struggle for life in the cold weather were captured on a community center surveillance camera. Lt. Robert Moses, of the state police High Technology Crimes Unit, said the growing number of cameras in stores and banks appears to have caused more criminals to wear masks and bandannas. But it doesn't worry him. "The bottom line is, even though he's wearing a mask, there's still somebody that can identify him from the way he walks, his mannerisms, clothing or characteristics," Moses said. Systems more affordable The price of the typical surveillance system has declined dramatically in recent years, making the systems affordable to mom-and-pop stores and others who once would have considered the equipment a luxury, said Grant Fredericks, forensic video analyst with Avid Technology Inc. in Tewksbury, Mass. In 1997 and 1998, the price of a four-camera video system was between $3,000 and $8,000, Fredericks said. A better version of the same system now could cost as little as $250, he said. U.S. sales of surveillance cameras have increased from $1.04 billion in 2001 to $1.63 billion projected for 2005, said Richard Chace, spokesman for the Security Industry Association, Alexandria, Va. The proliferation of the cameras, and the evolution of the technology behind them, has posed challenges for police departments. Some find their resources are being taxed trying to keep up with the amount of potential evidence, experts said. Moses said the workload of his state unit, which conducts forensic analysis on computer and video evidence in a Dover laboratory, has surged since it took on video analysis less than two years ago. The unit handled 90 video cases in its first full year of operation last year. The county's workload has grown, too. Since June 2002, there have been 135 cases in which video equipment was used to aid in investigations, county police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said. The state and county police are the only two agencies in the state with the high-tech equipment needed to enhance video evidence. Both agencies are called upon frequently to assist other municipalities in the state as well as police agencies in the region. Moses said the recent surge in the use of digital surveillance cameras has posed a problem. Unlike videotape, digital video cannot be magnified and adjusted for brightness and contrast or converted into still photographs on the department's equipment. It has to be converted to video, which can be time-consuming. Also, the variety of digital technology has complicated analysis. "There are literally hundreds of different formats," said state police Detective Daniel Willey. There is no universal digital software program to view the various systems, police said. Fredericks, who teaches forensic video at the FBI Academy, said he believes the problems with digital video will be resolved in the next few years. Cameras a deterrent Law enforcement officials said there is no firm evidence suggesting surveillance cameras have lowered crime rates. But many believe they act as a deterrent. More than 100 cameras have been trained on downtown Wilmington for the past three years in a video safety partnership among businesses, police and a private nonprofit group. "In the past year, our arrest stats have begun to decrease. Our true goal was to act as a deterrent, but the good thing that is occurring is that people are generally feeling safer downtown," said Marty Hageman, executive director of Downtown Visions. Hageman said since its April 2001 inception, Downtown Visions' cameras have assisted paramedics, fire departments or police 374 times. In the last three years, the Visions staff assisted in 122 arrests in the 69 blocks the program covers downtown, Hageman said. Since 1998, nine security cameras, monitored 16 hours a day at police headquarters, have kept an eye on street activity at high-crime corners in the city's Northeast and Eastside neighborhoods. Wilmington police would not release information on the number of arrests made as a result of monitoring the bank of color TVs in the police communications room. "Our vice units use them very well and we make a lot of arrests," said Capt. Victor Ayala, who heads the communications center. Lisa C. White, 34, a homemaker from the city's Union Park Gardens neighborhood, said she feels safer when she is downtown because of the cameras' eyes. "One of the safest places on the planet is Disney World, and that's because everyone knows there are cameras everywhere and there's always somebody watching," White said. Business owners also said the cameras increase their sense of security. The Deer Park Tavern in Newark installed a digital video surveillance system 2 1/2 years ago, manager Ray Searles said. "We do use it and the Newark police have used it," Searles said. "It works great" as a crime deterrent. But not everyone is as enthusiastic about the growing use of surveillance cameras. Some argue the cameras pose a threat to privacy. "It's easy to say, 'Look, we caught two criminals today.' But they can also say, 'I watched you buy condoms the other day,' or, 'I watched you get into the car with somebody else's wife,' " said attorney Lawrence Hamermesh, a board member with the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware. "Even if it did eliminate one threat or incident, is it worth it to give up rights that we used to care about?" Legal experts said there is no expectation of privacy on a public street or in a public setting such as a store. But ACLU Delaware chapter executive director Drewry Fennell said cameras are becoming so sophisticated that what one thinks of as a public place is going to change when police can see into almost any building with clarity. "The technology is ahead of the law," Fennell said. Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or tsanginiti () delawareonline com. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- surveillance cams are watching (still) Dave Farber (Feb 24)