According to WJZ.com Baltimore officials are convinced crime will go down if criminals know police are watching them. The city calls it's surveillance system "CityWatch" and installed 76 downtown cameras in 2004 and is increasing the camera count to 500 across the city today.
So far, CityWatch has captured five homicides and a dozen [...]
Entries Tagged as 'No Verdict'
Baltimore: Increasing camera density, claims success
June 27th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
Tags: Another Politician Claims Success·Publically Owned CCTV
New Orleans crime cameras: Dell makes "mockery" of judicial system
June 26th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
Not too long ago, FCFA wrote a piece on the New Orleans crime camera system and categorized this system as a public surveillance failure.
Why Dell got into the camera reseller business is anyone's guess. Now they are in the middle of a lengthy lawsuit in which a state court judge found Dell Inc. in contempt [...]
California ACLU chides Sacramento PD
June 23rd, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
In August 2007, the ACLU issued a report on the proliferation of video surveillance systems in California.
California cities are moving quickly to install video surveillance cameras on public streets and plazas without regulations, with little or no public debate, and without an evaluation of their effectiveness. Under the Watchful Eye, a new [...]
Tags: Publically Owned CCTV
Wilmington, NC: cautious optimism towards crime cameras
June 18th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
Wilmington Police Department Capt. Marshall Williamson has done his homework. He's installing cameras (albeit at a very costly price – ~25,000 each) which includes video analytics to monitor Wilmington's downtown area.
“We wanted an investigative tool that would help us for the long term,” Williamson said. The system could expand, officials said, if police [...]
Tags: Publically Owned CCTV
Midtown Manhattan Security Initiative: a false sense of security?
June 17th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative (LMSI) has been in the works since the 9/11 attacks. However, it still remains to be seen how cameras, license plate readers, and radiation detectors will deter terrorism as Deputy Commissioner of Counter-Terrorism of the NYPD Richard Falkenrath has stated.
According to NY1, police commissioner Raymond Kelly is proposing adding [...]
Tags: Fighting Terrorism?!·Lower Manhattan Security Initiative
Lower Manhattan Security Initiative: A complete waste of money
June 10th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict, Public Policy Failure
Yesterday a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan which had security officers, security gates and plenty of CCTV cameras was bombed. The whole incident was broadcast on TV.
Does this unfortunate incident mean that Deputy Commissioner of Counter-Terrorism of the New York City Police Department Richard Falkenrath has made misleading statements?
Mr Falkenrath, referring to the the Lower Manhattan Security [...]
Tags: Fighting Terrorism?!·Lower Manhattan Security Initiative·Publically Owned CCTV
Los Angeles MTA security guards caught giving the smack-down to commuters
May 18th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
In another round of "CCTV cameras make the world safer", the question that keeps coming up is safer from who?!
The LA Times is reporting today about repeated assualts by the guards which have prompted about 11 investigations.
"They are not meant to be acting as police officers," said Sheriff's Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein, who oversees [...]
Tags: City Employees Caught On Cam·Publically Owned CCTV·Self Indicting
Case study: the City of Dallas – a false positive?
May 7th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
Two years ago, the city of Dallas started installing public CCTV cameras. Today the total camera count is 96. Two weeks ago, Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia stated, "Cameras have helped reduce crime in such a dramatic manner that we are victims of our own success".
This pro-camera statement is not out of the norm for politicians. [...]
Tags: Another Politician Claims Success·False Positive·Publically Owned CCTV
Austin PD caught running red lights
May 6th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
When cities are a victim of their own success, Red Light Cameras (RLCs) are the flawed method to fix intersection problems.
Having been caught red handed the Austin PD Chief defends his officers even though protocol for running red lights requires having lights and sirens on.
To provide a legal loophole "whitelist" of vehicles that can run lights, senate Bill 398 is [...]
Tags: City Employees Caught On Cam·Red Light Cameras·Self Indicting
Bring back CCTV! What? Really?
May 5th, 2009 · No Comments · No Verdict
The townspeople of Monmouth in the United Kingdom are shouting on the cover of the Monmouthshire Beacon to re-instate their pricey police monitored CCTV cameras. A total of 1,344 citizens have signed a petition saying they want them back.
According to the South Wales Argus the cost to operate six cameras a year is £12,000 [...]
Tags: Publically Owned CCTV
