Fergie's Tech Blog

San Francisco Surveillance Cameras Fail To Curb Crime

An AP newswire article, via CBS5.com, reports that:

An arsenal of surveillance cameras posted at San Francisco housing projects have failed to lead to a single homicide arrest even though about one-quarter of the city's murders happen on public housing property, according to city officials.

The San Francisco Housing Authority has installed 178 cameras on its properties over the past two years, but they are not regularly monitored, officials said at a hearing held this week by the Board of Supervisors' public safety committee. Instead, video shot by the cameras is only viewed if requested by police.

The city of San Francisco has 70 other cameras installed at high crime areas around the city that are similarly unmonitored.

Even when the cameras do catch crimes being committed, the footage can be so grainy that the videos don't always yield usable details, especially at night when most crimes occur, police homicide Lt. John Murphy said.

posted by Fergie @ 8/16/2007 02:09:00 PM