‘Covert’ Surveillance Cameras Coming To Chicago

Blue-light surveillance cameras in Chicago's high-crime neighborhoods will someday be augmented by "covert" cameras that "fit inside of a match box" and keep the bad guys guessing, Police Supt. Jody Weis said.

Now that crime-ravaged communities have been saturated with hundreds of blue-light cameras, Weis says it's time to take Big Brother technology to "the next level."

That means surveillance cameras similar to the hidden cameras used to snare corrupt politicians.

"They are incredibly small. I've seen some that would fit inside of a match box. . . . These can be secreted in locations that nobody would ever detect. It's amazing where we're going with technology," Weis said during a taping of the WLS-AM Radio Program, "Connected to Chicago."

Blue-light cameras virtually announce their presence, giving drug dealers and gang-bangers a heads-up to move out of range. Covert cameras keep them guessing, the superintendent said.

"You use the covert [cameras] to perhaps push them into an area where you have coverage. If we can interrupt their intelligence cycle, we will have the upper hand," he said.

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Libertarian Group Outraged About Camera Surveillance

The cover of the pamphlet Libertarian party members handed out last Thursday is emblazoned with a comic book style poster of a Stalin-esque figure, the headline reading "Big Brother is Watching Yo," the "U" obscured by an Orwellian thought-crime fugitive. The pamphlet's implication being that the fugitive is UNCG students and Big Brother is the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera security system UNCG Police operate on campus.

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Surveillance Cam Shows Home Invaders

Clackamas County deputies released surveillance photos Monday of a man being sought in connection with a home invasion.

The incident occurred at 11:55 a.m. on March 12 at an apartment complex on Southeast 82nd Drive in Clackamas. Frances Gibson said she woke up inside her apartment and found a man reaching over her and grabbing for her purse.

"I didn't think it was real at first," Gibson said. "I thought I was dreaming."

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Surveillance Cameras Going HD to Catch Crooks

The same kind of high definition digital television that's being sold to you is also popping up in the world of private security. From the looks of things, crime fighting will never be the same.

Those fuzzy robbery suspect photos from surveillance sometimes distributed by police could soon become a thing of the past. Crystal clear facial images can be taken from video cameras some distance away, according to security experts. Security experts say the quality of security cameras is getting better, while the cost is coming down.

Some security camera firms such as SuperCircuits sell low-cost undercover cameras disguised as exit signs, tissue boxes and computer speakers for $100 or $200. Higher-end cameras franchised through security firms such as 3xLogic and Digatron are bringing high-definition digital pictures to your local service station and liquor store.

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Teen Charged in Hit-and-Run Caught on Surveillance Tape

A 17-year-old Custer High School student has been charged in a hit-and-run that was caught on surveillance tape in Milwaukee.

Airimis Spinks is accused of being the driver of a GMC sport utility vehicle that hit Kevin Treskow as he was crossing Martin Luther King Drive on Nov. 18.

Surveilance Cameras Catch County Employee Stealing Gas

A Santa Fe County supervisor is in the middle of a month-long suspension without pay after a hidden camera recorded him gassing up his personal pickup truck from a county pump.

However the county is not calling the disappearance of hundreds of gallons of gasoline a theft despite undercover video showing Frank Jaramillo fueling not only his own truck but loading containers in the back of his county truck.

Employees fill up Santa Fe County vehicles at a county pump every day, but the number of gallons being used wasn't adding up.

British Developing Grenade-like Surveillance Camera

Britain's Defense Ministry is helping develop a grenade-like surveillance camera that would allow troops to "see high-value, high-quality images in realtime video," according to BBC News.

This so-called I-Ball technology grew out of the "competition of ideas" that Whitehall sponsored in 2007.

Fruit Stand Surveillance Nabs Thief

An enterprising farmer helped police nab a thief after he set up a surveillance camera at his Beamsville fruit stand.

Niagara Regional Police say the farmer installed the camera after he experienced ongoing cash shortages from the money box at his fruit stand.