Feb-12-2009 10:40 AM
It's well-known what the September 2001 terrorist attacks did for the surveillance camera industry. Coupled with new technology such as digital video cameras
and digital video recording (DVR) systems, the industry has grown
tremendously with government and big business placing a bulk of the
orders.
But it's no longer limited to big players. Media reports abound about private individuals, bars, supermarkets, apartment complexes, and even politicians using surveillance cameras for a variety of reasons. Technological advancements and more affordable prices mean even private homes are having surveillance camera systems installed.
Consider an Associated Press report in November 2008 from Douglas, Michigan, about a woman placing a surveillance camera in her home - to monitor children from an adjacent preschool playground. The woman claimed the system was to monitor the property line to watch for vandalism.
The school, concerned about the privacy of minors, blocked the camera's view with plywood. Authorities say the camera is legal, and the neighbor-school battle continues.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" may have fostered a home videotaping craze (preceded, of course, by "Candid Camera"), but more and more Americans are investing in surveillance cameras for less glamorous reasons. Mostly it's for very personal reasons - to protect the perimeter of your property, for example, or to deter employee theft.
But uses are expanding beyond the typical videotaping realm. Infrared capability, pan-tilt-zoom cameras, multiple-camera systems, you name it and average citizens are deploying them. Let's take a look at how.
Surveillance Cameras Not Just for 'Gotcha' Laughs
Almost everyone can remember having a giggle at seeing a culprit caught on videotape, whether on television or directly from a video recorder's playback. One of the most famous cases involved an old video-to-tape recording of a politician being naughty very late at night - and well before 9/11.
In a 1998 race for the California Assembly in Ventura County, California, candidate Tony Strickland had a young volunteer stationed with a video recorder near a large campaign sign that had been repeatedly vandalized. They couldn't have dreamed of catching a better suspect: the opponent himself.
Rich Sybert - who was leading in the polls at the time - was caught on tape tearing down a Strickland sign, as was his vehicle license plate. But Strickland's camp went a step further and set up what is known as the "draw play," where information is slowly released to the media with intent to catch the opposition lying.
Confronted with the allegation, Sybert went on the record stating he had no involvement. Then, Strickland released the video. His credibility destroyed, Sybert received only 7 percent of the vote, and Strickland jumped from fourth place in the polls to claim the seat.
The number of political candidates tooling volunteers with video surveillance cameras is increasing, as vandalism can prove costly to campaign signs and other campaign marketing materials.
Strickland was lucky, as upon the second questioning Sybert confessed - without seeing the video's blurriness. Today law enforcement is relying more upon better technology and camera placement to ensure a better-captured picture, and increase odds for arrest and prosecution.
Strickland served six years in three terms as an Assemblyman, and since has been elected to the California Senate.
Stories Abound on Use of Surveillance Cameras
Media reports about the proactive use of surveillance cameras are too numerous to count. Here is a sampling of recent mentions.
Police in State College, Pennsylvania, responded to complaints from apartment owners in this college town by using video surveillance cameras over busy holiday weekends when students tend to make poor decisions. From the past Halloween weekend:
"We've got a traffic cone!" said State College police Officer Dave White, pointing to a monitor in the basement of an apartment building near Beaver Canyon, according to the Centre Daily Times. It showed a student with a bright orange traffic cone thrown over his shoulder and a wide smile on his face walk in a door and down a hallway. He probably thought he was safe. Wrong.
Instead of focusing on using video after the fact, this police department used the images to arrest suspects on the spot. "Just steps behind the man carrying the stolen traffic cone were three officers who had been watching his progress on one of the 13 surveillance cameras that monitor activity in the building. The officers took him to the basement, where they had set up to monitor activity the cameras, and wrote a citation."
In Chico, California, according to that town's Enterprise-Record, a chronic burglar was arrested after his final illegal act was captured by a video surveillance camera. This was after he fell through the ceiling of a jewelry store and set off that business's alarm. A surveillance camera at a bar down the street helped police with the arrest.
Speaking of bars, one in Ventura, California, according to the Ventura County Star captured an image of a "person of interest" in a huge bar fight that left one man in a coma.