Chicago PD turns to surveillance cameras as crime-fighting tool

Sunday, June 05, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: surveillance cameras, law enforcement, health news

In 2003, Chicago was the homicide capital of the U.S., with 589 homicides. Now, Chicago has evolved with Operation Disruption, a pilot network of 30 cameras used to keep watch over the West Side. Images from these cameras have been used in over 200 investigations. The cameras are part of several improvements in criminal investigation for the city. Chicago also began using a massive data network, called CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting), which contains all sorts of information from mug shots to chains of evidence. The computer system even tracks patterns of crime, predicts likely patterns of criminal behavior and allows chiefs to know where to hang cameras and send troops. Chicago's crime rate is now the lowest it has been since the mid-'60s.

Police forces around the country are looking to Chicago for inspiration on new crime-control tactics. Roughly 300 local law enforcement agencies in 35 Illinois counties are using CLEAR, along with agents from the FBI, Secret Service, and the ATF. The plan is to expand the system even further. Opponents of the system, such as some community leaders, worry the police will turn Chicago into a surveillance state, and people will feel uncomfortable on the streets whether they are going to commit a crime or not. The other issue for critics is the tendency for surveillance to fall on minorities. Black men are twice as likely as white men to be watched for no apparent reason, a Hull University study found. Other community leaders, however, think the system is a great idea considering the state of Chicago's streets. Chicago's network of cameras will soon also be able to sense gunfire, and zoom in on trouble in response to 911 calls.