Police using electric eye on the street

Gloucester County Times
Jan. 29, 2006

Big Brother may not be the only one watching you these days. There are video surveillance systems of all types in operation just about anyplace you can imagine -- and in some you wouldn't have imagined.

Police in some places have their own cameras -- they don't usually disclose the locations, but some of these hidden cameras can pan from side to side and zoom in to see what's going on several blocks away.

Law enforcement also relies heavily on private security cameras, the kind that watch what's going on inside and outside banks, supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores, dollar stores, you name it.

You walk into some stores and, if you look up, the first thing you see is a screen with a live shot of you walking into the store. Now they may have your face on tape, or at least they want you to think so.

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Police in Paulsboro have had surveillance cameras on the street since 2000.

"We don't advertise it and we don't hide it," said Police Chief Kenneth Ridinger.

"We've had some drug players engage in what appears to be a drug transaction and stop for a second and look up at the unit, which would probably be 50 to 75 yards away, down the street. They look at it, stare at it for a couple seconds, then continue the transaction," he said.

"There seems to be a realization that it's there, but also disbelief that we're looking," said Ridinger.

"Nobody mans their cameras, except for the casinos," he pointed out. "We don't man our cameras."

Ridinger said his officers do watch the recorded images, but he wouldn't be more specific about when that happens.

"Most places don't man their cameras. They're kind of reactive. We fall back on them when we need to," he said.

"If a patrol officer sees something, they may go into a huddle and someone may come back to the station to work the camera" for something specific, said Ridinger.

Paulsboro police initially got the video system to monitor their holding cell area, but the device had extra inputs, so the department went after the funding to use them for outside cameras.

"We're not looking to start a monitoring movement, we don't want to get into that. We're in the process of fixing a town," he said.

Other than recently capturing Ridinger when he took a header outside the station, he doesn't know if the video system has ever captured embarrassing images.

"Privacy is going to be an issue as the camera craze continues," he said. "With cell phone cameras and everything else, it certainly can be unnerving. Maybe we may look back and see we changed our behavior. It might take the fun out of living," said Ridinger.

"This is the United States of America. The fun part of being an American is we have these freedoms. The cameras need to be used for anti-crime, not to impede on our personal lives," he said.

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The police aren't the only ones taking your picture.

Where could you find video surveillance systems?

Hospitals, chemical companies, malls, most convenience stores, gas stations, department stores, any place where there's an exchange of goods or money, according to Vince Reilly of Security 21 LLC in Deptford Township.

There are also all the major sporting venues and the casinos in Atlantic City, he said.

"I would say casinos without question are manned 24 hours a day. I think the (Philadelphia International) airport is also manned 24 hours, although I don't know that for sure," Reilly said. Some major retail stores also watch the monitors.

At most others, "their video recording is to recreate the event," he said.

When security systems use videotape, anyone with access to the system can rewind a tape and watch what's on it.

With the new digital technology, though, while someone with access to the surveillance monitor can watch what's happening real time, the new computer software usually requires a password.

"This is one level of protection that digital recorders have," when it comes to privacy issues, Reilly said. "It keeps clerks and secretaries from replaying the video."

Camden is among the towns that want to put up video surveillance systems at intersections -- not merely to catch drivers who run red lights, but to watch who does what there.

Aside from funding issues, there's the question of what the images can be used for.

"The real fly in the ointment is the lawyers," he said of one area with the eye-in-the-sky system that Camden's interested in installing. "As soon as lawyers found out these tapes were available from certain downtown areas, they were subpoenaing the tapes for divorce purposes. The towns are saying, 'Oh, no, this is for crime purposes,' " Reilly said.

Although facial recognition software is now available, it's pricey and Reilly said he doesn't know of anyone using it in Gloucester County.

"Anywhere with large numbers of people" want the facial-recognition programs, he said, including train and transportation centers, airports and sports venues.

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You can't always tell if you're being watched.

While some users want you to see the camera as a form of deterrent, cameras can now be the size of a quarter, he said.

"Video surveillance has not hit big residentially, but I believe it will. You can get 'disposable' surveillance systems for $500 to $600," equipment that, if it breaks, is cheaper to replace than repair, Reilly said.

"Especially when you get into the upper-middle-class and upper-class homes costing $900,000, you want to watch whoever might jump over the fence and use your Jacuzzi," said Reilly.