Fergie's Tech Blog

Surveillance Technology Helps Catch Serial Killer

K.C. Jones writes on InformationWeek:

Old-fashioned detective work would have solved a murder that led to the arrest of a serial killer in Philadelphia, but technology left the perpetrator without a defense, police said.

"We would have been able to solve the case without technology," said Homicide Unit Det. Charles Boyle. "It was a tip that did it, but the technology made it a slam-dunk."

Boyle, who investigated the shooting of 48-year-old Patricia McDermott in May 2005, said a tipster identified Juan Covington as a suspect, but video collected from more than 50 private and public cameras brought the tipster forward and strengthened the case. It was not the first time authorities have used technology in a criminal investigation, but it was the first time detectives in Philadelphia used so many surveillance systems to solve a crime, Boyle said.

posted by Fergie @ 1/05/2007 12:13:00 PM