Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Blue Crime Camera Update

After writing the story about the blue camera that is on the corner of Sheffield and Fullerton, many questions arose about why the camera is actually there. One question that stood out was whether the camera was there because the school wanted to promote safety or whether it was due to the already present crime in this area. In fact, after speaking to a member of the public defenders office, who chooses to remain anonymous, he said that the blue cameras are mounted in high crime areas. These areas have experienced a large amount of criminal activity including narcotics transactions, sexual assault, muggings and all other possible criminal activity. Having a camera in these places are done with the hope that it will discourage criminals from committing crimes since they have a high risk of it being caught on tape. The camera tapes all activity around that area in hopes of catching crime in action and then it can be used in court. The member of the public defenders office said that he has used recordings from these tapes all the time in order to help solve a case.

Overall, in the case of the camera on Sheffield and Fullerton, it is there due to the increasing number of crimes in the area, but is also put there for the general safety of the DePaul students.

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