The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
Do you think all cities with a crime problem should install cameras and license plate readers around town to help deter crime, or catch crime when it happens?
Talk about it….
33 comments
They all wear masks and hoodies. They use stolen cars, stolen plates, or no plates. How is this going to work? Spend the money on more cops.
Police getting alerts that a stolen car has entered various points of the city is a good thing. In Danville they got an alert searched around the location, found the car in front of a house, where, surprise the perps were robbing the house.
Absolutely…I have nothing to hide. Anything we can do to help is great. Now if only they would prosecute.
Of course cameras around the city would be a good tool to “help” deter crime. Or more accurately they would help law enforcement identify the suspects involved in committing crimes.
However it is arrest and prosecution that would have the largest impact in deterring crime. Arrest, prosecute and see to it that these criminals have to actually carry out and serve their sentences. No breaks, no time plea bargaining down to a lesser offense. Commit the crime, do the time.
No. Cameras do not deter crime. These thieves know there are cameras; either they wear masks/facial coverings, or simply do not care because they know (at least in this state) there are no consequences, other than perhaps sympathy that they had to resort to stealing because of their “poor” circumstance. This society does not need a government controlled nanny cam watching over everything we do.
BING!!!!!!!!!! sir, you need to run for city council; stay frosty my friend; and if you have any cats at home give them my love and pets,,,,maybe a cat toy bennah filled with cat nip……
Oh sure like that’s gonna deter crime? That’s not going to deter anything. Cmon people every smash and grab there’s been there have been cameras all over the place and it doesn’t deter a damn thing.
Wake up people you need to get a clue here..
T They were great in a town like Danville, where they could track cars of criminals coming or leaving town.
But in a town like Concord, that has a lot of criminals within it, I don’t know how it’s going to work.
Another solution besides cameras is for people to stop voting for Democrats. They are behind all this leniency towards criminals, and keeping them out of jail. I bet you those thugs all vote Democrat because they know it’s a good thing for them.
The question is a frustrating framework for me. The increase in crime was purposeful and legislated, and this pro-criminal culture should be reversed. We would not need cameras if it were not for moron Democrat voters. They took away our rights to safety and security, and now we are faced with giving up more rights to address it. I’ll go for plate readers but not cameras on streets. In my mind I will pretend it is to catch people with expired vehicle registration tags.
Time in the pokey deters crime.
They have been using them in almost all cities in the UK starting back in the 1980’s.
They had a decent impact overall, especially at first. They we’re less a deterrent to crime as an aid to catching criminals, but as mentioned, criminals get smart to them.
where it really helped was catching people committing crimes during the actual act as they’re monitored directly by the police control. For that to be successful you must be able to guide the police to the location quickly, which ultimately means having police available.
definitely a good tool to have in the overall arsenal, but not the silver bullet by any means.
Nothing substitutes for boots on the ground!
No. I don’t trust any government agency, whether it’s municipal, state, or federal. It doesn’t matter, they are all corrupt crooks and will find a way to abuse the system. The best way, in my opinion, to fight crime is good old-fashioned police work without any political interference. Let the police do their job the best way they see fit without fear of retribution or some liberal demonizing them and calling them racist. Place more cops in high crime neighborhoods. They can bring back the beat cop. The cop who actually walks a beat, and sometimes drives around a specific neighborhood. The beat cop and the local citizens get to know each other on a personal level, and help each other out. When I was a kid, our neighborhood in San Francisco was a safe place to live and play because we had a couple of beat cops. They knew us kids on a personal level, and we knew them, and they made sure we behaved ourselves. It was a great experience in life because we got to know the cops as human beings, (one of the officers would always give us bubble gum,) and we grew up respecting police officers.
Along with good old-fashioned police work, we need a good old-fashioned court system without wishy-washy DA’s and judges. We need DA’s and judges who will uphold the constitution of the United States, and the California Penal Code, and not be afraid to prosecute, and send criminals to jail. They can stop feeling sorry for the homeless and enforce the vagrancy and litter laws. I’m sure there are a variety of health and safety codes that are in violation too. Clean up the streets of homeless camps, the filth and trash they are littering all over our nice neighborhoods is repulsive.
+1 Dawg…you are a well rounded veteran sir.
Cameras everywhere is very much a double edge sword that cuts in both directions.
Can they detour crime? Maybe, It will keep the honest man honest but the criminal will always think the can get away with it. The problem is cameras do not just record crime, they record EVERYTHING both illegal and legal. There is no distinction.
Privacy in public will be gone. Some might think that is a dichotomy. How can you have privacy in public where anyone can see? The difference is the Government will have an all seeing all recording eye. It can collect, corollate, and interpolate. With enough data, the Government will be able to predict behavior and with prediction comes the ability to influence and ultimately change behavior. Liberty becomes the appearance of liberty and you have authoritarianism and no individual autonomy.
Great Britain reportedly has one camera for every 11 people. Is that what we in America really want?
Ben Franklin said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” I would add that you have neither liberty nor safety. You have 1984.
Thanks, Janus. I wish people could remember how they felt 30 or 40 years ago about the prospect of a dystopian future where the police have cameras everywhere. That used to horrify us. Now the vast majority just shrug their shoulders. Today is the stuff of yesterday’s horror movies. It’s here. It’s real. Americans talk a good game about preserving liberty and privacy, but when push comes to shove, we fold like wet cardboard.
Randy California and Spirit tried to warn us a long time ago…https://youtu.be/gtzS93HDQeE
The best way to deter crime is to prosecute and punish criminal behavior. Cameras are useless if the DA will not prosecute. At some point we are likely to see some vigilante justice if the legal system continues to shirk its duty.
There are already cameras and license plate readers in use in the city of Concord.
Cameras have worked out well in Lamorinda. I’m glad they’re there. There is no expectation of privacy in public. Nor does it deter people from walking into a bank or a store where you’re on camera. I think all cities regardless of crime level benefit from cameras.
Good stuff.
Nothing to fear here just like masks and vaccinations.
Anything to stop crime.will benefit society
The big, bad government isn’t going after you, don’t worry. . .
Speaking of cameras, why is it that these cameras can take a clear and precise picture of a small license plate traveling at a high rate of speed, but the cameras used to capture images of the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, and UFO’s are always blurry and out of focus?
POST DELETED
Please Note: Users who use multiple names will be deleted. Please choose ONE name so others can easily chat with you.
Well, the liberal morons have mandated that all must wear masks, so good luck identifying them. They also use paper plates, so there’s that as well. Until we stop giving people money to breed these criminals and make people work instead of using welfare for life, we will keep having these fine folks. And, until we actually punish crime for real, this will persist. Make the prisoners work, for crying out loud, and stop letting them watch TV.
Plate readers don’t work when the cars don’t have plates or they have fake temp. plates as in the case of the last shopping without dollars episode in WC. For those concerned about cameras, are you kidding? I have cameras on all sides of my house and cameras in my vehicles. Watch any news story, the video source is usually from a business cam, a video doorbell cam, a home outdoor or indoor cam. On top of that people walk around with their smart phones in their hand at the ready, or ready to draw faster than Wyatt Earp set to open with video instantly . Don’t pick a booger out of your nose, someone will have a video of it. If you are outside of your home someone is 👀 you.
If people were allowed to carry there would be little if no crime.
Only the stupidest of criminals would rob anything with armed people around.
They need to bring back good old public executions that didn’t take millions of taxpayer dollars.
.
In all public commercial areas, I’d be okay with surveillance cameras so long as their observation AND use can only be used for property crimes and bodily harm cases including abductions. The videos should not be used for traffic violations.
.
At first blush, I think that would be “reasonable”.
Until the DA takes this $hit seriously and files charges against these idiots, it’s just throwing money at a high-tech “solution “ that will only provide minimal results.
Another feel good effort.
Thieves don’t care if you take their picture. Just look at what happens when these idiots walk into a drug store, supermarket, or whatever….they take their time to take what they want (making sure its under $950) then brazenly walk out while people take video and watch. They don’t care because they know nothing will happen anyway. Want to deter crime? Prosecute it and make the penalties stiffer. Allow store owners the ability to protect their property with lethal force…then you will see the theft rate drop like a rock.
I support placing cameras and license plate readers at all roads into and out of town. The information is very helpful even when the plate is fake or the car is stolen. Good enough for Danville, why not Concord? All public parks and venues should have cameras as well.
They will use these cameras to harass taxpayers. Arresting and charging broke criminals does nothing to fill the city’s coffers, so cameras are just an assist to charge wealthy denizens and extract funding.
No, we don’t need cameras monitoring every aspect of our lives. We were fine, 30 or 40 years ago, without all the technology, and just because we can, it doesn’t mean we should always use it.
You don’t need to be Nostradamus to see where this would go in California. Intense, blanket coverage of all public with video and facial recognition tech (provided by tech firms who finagle huge government contracts for the privilege of surveiling the whole population). Coupled with totally inadequate enforcement and response on the ground, plus progressive prosecutors who won’t enforce the law, no cash bail, etc.
All the crime AND all the panopticon dystopian stuff too. That’s the California trajectory.
Comments are closed.