Latest Generation of Surveillance Cameras Make it Easier to Identify Criminals
As more and more stores, restaurants, banks, and businesses use digital cameras for security purposes, the importance of having high-resolution images can not be emphasized enough. Clear images can better help the public identify criminals and propel the police in the right investigative direction.
Just to name a few examples, very recently a registered sex offender was able to be identified and arrested for indecent exposure because of the high quality camera in the West Seneca Rite-Aid he had visited. In addition, a woman charged with stealing purses from a church in Buffalo was arrested after viewing the records of a gas station surveillance camera. Finally, a man was charged with bank robbery after police obtained an image from the bank’s surveillance camera.
As can be imagined, a blurry, shaky, or grainy resolution will do little good in identifying and catching criminals. In the past few decades the quality of camera images has increased drastically, mostly because of the upgrade from analog to digital technology.
“Nothing beats a good picture,” said Amherst Assistant Police Chief Timothy M. Green.
Sometimes the way police arrest a criminal requires help from multiple sources. For example, with the purse-stealing case, police were eventually able to track her down because she used a credit card from one of the purses at a gas station. The personnel there were able to track when she used the credit card at the pump, and had taken a crystal-clear image of the woman.
The number of real life accounts that have been positively affected by camera surveillance is unimaginable. As camera technology continues to improve, the number of alleged criminals being arrested will probably also rise.
(Via The Buffalo News)
