The Philadelphia Police Department has stumbled upon what could very well be a new method to combat crime in the city – by constructing a map of privately owned security cameras installed all over the city. Police are hoping that residents and businesses will register their own cameras via a program known as SafeCam, where it will provide an avenue for a collective effort for both the public and police to have more eyes on the street – a precursor to Big Brother, perhaps?
According to Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, video has proved to be invaluable to solving many cases these days, which is very different from the past when an investigating officer went around interviewing people in the past whenever a crime occurs, spending a whole lot more time compared to reviewing a video footage of the crime scene.
The cameras also come in handy to search out escape routes, and works great in capturing the suspect if he/she leaves in a vehicle. Of course, there is a flipside to all of this as a camera registration program will most probably incur the wrath of those who are extremely protective of their privacy. To date, over 80 different residents, businesses and organizations across Philadelphia have already registered their cameras in the program.
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