So do we? We have been talking on this blog about the increase in crime and we have seen in other neighborhoods the addition of cameras to attempt to solve them problem.
We here at MTGP say ABSOLUTELY NO! Let us go throught the gammit of arguements for the cameras.
From CBS2
"They're a tool to assist police officers to do their job better on the street," said Chicago Police Asst. Deputy Supt. Howard Lodding.
Really? How many street officers actually view blue light camera footage during a tour of duty? The average police officer does not use the blue light camera that is posted on a pole during their tour of duty. They usually are just sitting on top of the pole zooming in and out and rotating randomly in the hopes that they actually catch a crime occurring. If they do catch a crime occurring, that camera is not going to call 911 or alert the closest beat officer to what is happening. It will sit there and record the crime for some moments before reseting to a new camera angle. They do not exist to prevent crime, they exist to record it (maybe).
From ardamis via Chicago Tribune:
Another 100 police cameras are headed to high-crime street corners as the city expands a security system intended to disrupt crime, Mayor Richard Daley announced Tuesday.
But the new generation of cameras will be less obtrusive than the 200 already on the street. They will be a fraction of the weight and size of the current model and not be equipped with flashing blue lights.
The mayor related it best. They cameras are meant to disrupt crime. That's it. Not stop it. Not intervene. Not report it, just disrupt it. Wow, when we are getting robbed, or caught in gang crossfire, we will just be praying there is a camera there to disrupt it.
If we had police monitor all of the cameras located in the city, we would seriously need one police officer per camera. In order to effectively use the cameras that are in a fixed location and can't move around, we would need to put one set of eyes on each camera so that that set of eyes could watch for crimes in progress and let the police on the ground know where to go and what to look for. So, basically, you need 2 people to do the job that 1 would have been able to do. Not cost effective and not efficient.
To borrow a line from Second City Cop, when was the last time you saw a camera climb down from a pole and put cuffs on someone. Cameras are just there to make the average citizen believe something is being done when really nothing is.
We believe that our police department is comprised of many very good officers that are more than willing to do the work that needs to be done. However, we feel that out police department philosophy has changed. Chicago Police are being led to not prevent crime or be proactive but to report crime and be reactive. Hence why there is an increase in cameras that only report crime and no police to actually prevent crime.
Mount Greenwood does not need cameras, it needs boots on the ground in the form of police officers.
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13 comments:
Please leave the cameras, speed humps, and traffic circles in the ghetto.
None of them do much but annoy people and cause more problems. If you think you don't see the Police or a snowplow on your block often, put speed humps in and you will never see either.
Well said, I'm a retired copper and the camera's are a waste of money. Plus they highlight your area as a high crime area. We have problems here but by no means are a high crime area. We need more PO's and citizenry to become active in the patrol of the area. Don't be afraid to call police if you see something wrong. If your gut says somethings wrong, call.
OK, here's my take on it. Cameras are only as good as the people monitoring them. And the manpower shortage situation on the police department would only compound the problem. Remember a while back when they had the problems at Durkin Park in the Scottsdale neighborhood when it took more than a half hour for police response even when 911 was notified. With the number of cars in 022 responding to calls on the east end of the district, having cameras is only going to piss you off more. More and more cameras are being installed throughout the city, but how many instances have the cameras actually lead to the apprehension of criminals. I'm only going by news accounts where they say "police are reviewing video" of a certain incident. Its all very techy but I think it lends itself to a false sense of security. Lets put it this way, if police have the capability of reviewing crimes on camera, then the cameras obviously aren't deterring that much crime if criminals decide to commit them anyway, knowing they can be seen.
To me cameras in our neighborhood would be almost as bad as putting burglar bars on all our doors and windows. It gives the neighborhood that "Zoo" feeling like you see in neighborhoods like Englewood and Austin.
Jon Greco is retiring at the old age of 52. He knows something the rest of us don't.
no need for cameras in Mt. Greenwood , call 911 anytime you sense something is wrong
call mayor daley , ald. rugai and demand another beat car for every sector in 22
Mt. greenwood is the size of englewood mt greenwood 1 beat car , englewood -15 beat cars + units detailed on a daily basis
remember call 911 and complain
the alderman can't do it alone
im a p.o. and ive called the police twice in the past three days. once on third watch and once on midnights. the one on midnights the job sat for about 45 minutes and it was a battery in progress call... the second one was a suspicious person/crim trespass call.. 2 f/1s sitting on a neighbors porch.. confronted them, called 911 and then they start to knuckle drag down the block... claim they were passing out flyers.. yet when I shag them they pass out nothing on the block... again, no car. prob casing out the hood for pookie so they can find who is not home.
Here in Garfield Ridge there are about 4 within a 6 block radius!
no need for cameras in Mt. Greenwood , call 911 anytime you sense something is wrong
call mayor daley , ald. rugai and demand another beat car for every sector in 22
Mt. greenwood is the size of englewood mt greenwood 1 beat car , englewood -15 beat cars + units detailed on a daily basis
remember call 911 and complain
the alderman can't do it alone
Mt Greenwood is bigger than englewood.
inglewood and mt. greenwood 2 totally different neighborhoods. YOU FUCKING MORON.
Anonymous said...
Jon Greco is retiring at the old age of 52. He knows something the rest of us don't.
June 22, 2010 5:53 AM
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Who cares?
Adios.....
Those things are beyond useless anyways. No one monitors them. They are just a huge eye sore.
The cameras do not ever catch criminals and are just a waste of money. The only thing that works is watching over your neighbors and neighborhood. Leave everything else in the ghetto.
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