Mercury News Editorial: Security cameras can help San Jose police
Mercury News Editorial
If you’re on a neighborhood e-mail list in any Silicon Valley community, you’ve probably seen one of these videos: a clear shot of a recognizable person walking from a car to a porch and stealing a package, probably just after a delivery truck dropped it off. All courtesy of a home security camera.
We were reminded of those real-life crime snippets when San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo made a pitch to the City Council rules committee a few weeks ago to help police connect with homeowners who’d like to help catch a criminal with their home security cameras.
It is a simple idea with none of the Big Brother implications some have implied. (Note: In case you didn’t know, there’s a hot race for mayor going on, and Liccardo’s a target, er, candidate.)
When the politics filters out, we hope San Jose police can join Los Gatos and several other non-totalitarian cities in setting up a registry of cameras — a place for property owners to sign up if they’d like officers to know video might be available when a crime occurs nearby.
Liccardo proposed this after home videos helped police nab the confessed arsonist who terrorized a San Jose neighborhood last month, destroying a home and a warehouse, damaging other buildings and leaving one couple destitute.
What a relief to have solved those crimes and removed the danger so quickly. And just think: If police had known right where to look for videos instead of having to canvass the area to ask, they might have found the guy even sooner.
The idea is not to give police the ability to tap into home cameras and view live feeds. That would be scary. It’s to let the department know you have a camera, if you want to do that, and whom to contact — perhaps including work phone numbers — if nobody’s home.
So, if a woman is robbed on a sidewalk near your house, officers might call and ask to see the stream between X and Y hours to determine whether a suspicious person or vehicle has been recorded. You could still say no. But most people have an interest in keeping their neighborhoods safe, and getting leads on a crime quickly improves the chances of solving it.
It’s a little creepy to think home video cameras may be recording us passing by when we walk the dog or take the kids to school. But most likely, somewhere along the way, they are. Having the police know where some of the cameras are doesn’t really add to the creep factor. In fact, if cameras are watching anyway, they might as well help solve the occasional crime, if their owners are willing.
Read the full article here.