Newark Uses Cameras to Deter Crime

Amidst reports of cameras not doing anything at all to deter crime, Newark opened its new Surveillance Operations Center last week, and released a report claiming that murders and rapes had declined since the installation of cameras in its high violence areas in 2007. The city's mayor also talked about a recent armed robbery that was thwarted thanks to the cameras. As I've said before, just having cameras doesn't do anything, but having usable footage helps close cases and deliver arrests, which typically helps to deter crime in the long run.

Video Evidence Doesn't Discriminate

Here's one for people who worry that surveillance video puts too much power in the hands of police. In this case, video helped a defendant (Guillermo Alarcon, Jr., pictured left) prove that police had planted evidence on him, or, at the very least had lied under oath about his arrest, which was enough to get charges against him dropped. We've all seen the movies, this is being painted as one of those cases where good cops go bad because the rules of their job keep them from doing a good enough job keeping bad guys off the street. Here, they planted cocaine on a gang member to make the charges stick. Some would argue that if you break the law to send a gang member to prison, the end justifies the means, but I think laws are laws and if your job is to enforce them you probably shouldn't be breaking them. Moreover, as an executive in the security surveillance industry, I think it would be just plain wrong if surveillance video were only used as evidence against certain wrongdoers and not others.

Justice Chief Wants Cops Monitoring Cameras

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's new anti-crime adviser said Wednesday that he will recommend a major change to the city's beleaguered video surveillance program, allowing police to watch footage in real time as officers do in other cities. San Francisco, in deference to privacy concerns, only allows detectives to request footage if they have information that a crime occurred on camera.

In part because of a lack of costly data storage space, San Francisco achieves 80 percent of the resolution that its cameras are capable of producing and gets choppy footage comprised of, at best, two to four frames per second, telecommunications officials say. The problem is not with the manufacturer, but with the implementation of the cameras on a tight budget. The hearing made clear that city officials, and residents, have tough choices ahead on how much money to put into surveillance.

While informative, this article neglects to include an important option that could solve San Francisco’s dilemma—intelligent video surveillance.

Video Surveillance Trailer Provides Visual Backup

Law enforcement agencies across the country can now rapidly deploy a live remote mobile surveillance trailer in high risk locations. Russell Turner, Vice-President of Sales for NetVision Mobile, states that "Law enforcement professionals at the National Association of Police Chiefs Annual Conference remarked on how the NetVision Remote Surveillance System 'will help protect personnel and property during large public gatherings, covert operations and in high risk situations.'"

Officers can view the cameras from within their vehicles. Monitoring companies, such as Securitas, can automatically dispatch EMS resources to the exact location while providing vital real-time information for effective planning & preparation. Should priorities change; the entire system can be taken down in five minutes, rapidly deployed at another location, and set up in five minutes.

The NetVision Mobile Security Surveillance Trailer is just skimming the surface with Law Enforcement & the Construction Industry because this mobile security solution will be used by many other types of businesses that need an 'Eye in the Sky' for their piece of mind.