There is a new poll on ABC.com that says Americans approve of the use of public surveillance cameras to help fight crime.

I know they are used extensively in England already and you see them more in more in Chicago. It seems as though they have been effective in some cases but their use obviously brings up a lot of valid privacy issues.

I'd like to think we can do without them but can't help notice the lack of gang activity on the street corners that already have cameras in my neighborhood. I'm torn.

What say you?

Article

Poll

crime is in the nature of humanity.

having witnesses/evidence hasn't stopped a helluva lot of crime.

i'd rather have my public privacy/anonymity.

AlBStern wrote:t seems as though they have been effective in some cases but their use obviously brings up a lot of valid privacy issues.

There really can be no expectation of privacy when you are outside, in the open.

For the most part, I am against the use of them. Law enforcement is not an easy job, nor should it be.

One of the schools where I work is in a part of the city that is pretty much abandoned after 6 PM.

When I am doing tech for the night classes, they end at 9.

There is a subway stop three blocks away that I use when I go to work, but to go home I usually walk 6 blocks out of my way because the other stop is in a more populated area.

The other night I was very tired, and carrying a bunch of camera equipment, so I went to the closer stop. I noticed that on the corner of Broadway/28th there are now three NYPD cameras, trained on the entrances to the subway.

This says, to me, that there have been enough incidents in the area that they need to watch what's going on.

This did not make me feel any better about walking in that area.

Camera's on street corners are just the first part. They should all be taken down.

Baltimore has these cameras all over "challenged" areas, and in some "border" areas to challenged areas. It seems that they don't deter crime, they push it in different directions.

In a fit of curiosity, my wife and I volunteered at the police station to monitor the citywatch cameras in East Baltimore. We went twice, for an hour a piece. I'll tell you this, there are too many cameras, and far too few people watching them for them to make a difference. You can zoom in and out with the cameras and focus in on specific areas, but you can't "spy" in the windows of citizens (which is obviously intentional and it's a good thing the cameras are all set up to not peer into windows). It is all public domain activity that is being watched.

The cameras with their "hey look at me" blinking blue lights also seem to say to visitors that "this is not a safe area" and it decreases visits to legitimate businesses in the areas with the cameras. It also decreases property values.

It's safe to say it has been a complete disaster in Baltimore, and the violent crime rate is just as high if not higher with the cameras than without them.

CRAP.

burun wrote:One of the schools where I work is in a part of the city that is pretty much abandoned after 6 PM.

When I am doing tech for the night classes, they end at 9.

There is a subway stop three blocks away that I use when I go to work, but to go home I usually walk 6 blocks out of my way because the other stop is in a more populated area.

The other night I was very tired, and carrying a bunch of camera equipment, so I went to the closer stop. I noticed that on the corner of Broadway/28th there are now three NYPD cameras, trained on the entrances to the subway.

This says, to me, that there have been enough incidents in the area that they need to watch what's going on.

This did not make me feel any better about walking in that area.

...and then what happened?

(what would it take to make you feel better?)

major malling marsupial wrote:...and then what happened?

(what would it take to make you feel better?)

What would make me feel better? For criminals to spontaneously combust upon committing a crime, I suppose.

I feel the way that Mr. Arrison does, that the cameras will just sort of push the crimes over a couple of blocks.

I don't have a better solution, though.

In NYC the city government has its panties all in a twist about photography on the street, and trying to pass laws that prohibit people from photographing locations for more than 10 minutes (for example.) "They" say it's all because of security concerns and public safety. I see it as a double standard. If they are going to impose those rules on citizens, then they shouldn't have the right to put up police cameras.

I know my logic is faulty, but there it is.

have they ever been used to actally stop a crime in process??? I highly doubt it... CRAP...

they don't sit well with me either. i like the ones that are streamed online.
i don't like those cameras that catch stoplight runners either. but i run stoplights.
hmmm, they might be onto something.