LAPD Deputy Chief John McMahon says the department's going to start a pilot program to monitor and prevent crimes in a new way. He talked to the city's police commission Tuesday about using cameras around the city as part of a real-time crime center.
Deputy Chief McMahon said these real-time crime centers will allow police to be more effective and build community trust, "This technology will help us get away from making stops based on reasonable suspicion and put tools in our hands to start making stops based on probable cause to arrest."
According to McMahon, access to more cameras will allow officers to fight terror activity, interrupt crimes in the early stages, thwart repeat offenders, advance ongoing investigations, and clear more arrests.
And while law enforcement praises the value of increased camera surveillance, Dr. Matthew Guariglia with the Electronic Frontier Foundation isn't buying it.
Dr. Guariglia told KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian, "We're being sold this idea that somehow surveillance cameras will prevent crime, but there's absolutely no evidence that surveillance cameras prevent crime because we have so much footage of people quite brazenly doing crime in front of cameras."
He believes we need to approach the situation more holistically and ask, even if more cameras bring a massive number of convictions, will it bring down crime or make people feel safer? And he said, "...in the long run, the answer is no."
Here's what experts say about retail theft in our latest KNX News Town Hall, Smash and Grab, Stealing the Season.
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