tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post3665054419161762851..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Dallas police cameras focused on petty crime, public relationsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-31125128023182820172009-05-21T13:40:51.946-05:002009-05-21T13:40:51.946-05:00Popular Mechanics had a good article on the use of...Popular Mechanics had a good article on the use of Artificial Intelligence when used with video cameras. Chicago, for one, is adopting the technology. <br /><br />Google "Artificial Intelligence Security Camera", or <A HREF="http://ezinearticles.com/?Artificial-Intelligence-For-Security-Camera-Systems&id=2362396tp://bradshaw-vacuum-technology.com" REL="nofollow"> AI for Security Cameras.</A>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06775371185422183069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1653482277892278602009-03-23T23:18:00.000-05:002009-03-23T23:18:00.000-05:00I am so happy to get some aion kina from my friend...I am so happy to get some <A HREF="http://www.virgame.com/aion-c-119.html" REL="nofollow">aion kina</A> from my friends. They know I need <A HREF="http://www.virgame.com/aion-c-119.html" REL="nofollow">aion online kina</A>, they give me. So I always can get some <A HREF="http://www.virgame.com/aion-c-119.html" REL="nofollow">aion gold</A> from my friends. I <A HREF="http://www.virgame.com/aion-c-119.html" REL="nofollow"> buy aion kina</A> with my spare money. It makes me happy that I can still earn some <A HREF="http://www.virgame.com/aion-c-119.html" REL="nofollow">cheap aion kina</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-56694625188331379902008-10-14T18:37:00.000-05:002008-10-14T18:37:00.000-05:00Those are not the only numbers I asked for, 6:31. ...Those are not the only numbers I asked for, 6:31. If these data are accurate, by definition crime INCREASED in other neighborhoods. Until they tell us where in the city THAT occurred, I'll continue to take these CBD numbers with a grain of salt.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-85553953577389135932008-10-14T18:31:00.000-05:002008-10-14T18:31:00.000-05:00You asked for the numbers. The cameras were fully...You asked for the numbers. The cameras were fully functional at the beginning of January in 2007. Here are the actual crime stats for CBD for Jan - Mar of 2007 compared with Jan - Mar or 2006.<BR/>40% reduction in violent crime, 22% reduction in non-violent crime and overall reduction of 24%. <BR/> <BR/>Offense 2007 2006 Percentage<BR/> <BR/>Murder 0 1 -100.00%<BR/>Rape 1 0 100.00%<BR/>Robbery 19 31 -38.71%<BR/>Agg Aslt 15 27 -44.44%<BR/>Total Violent 35 59 -40.68%<BR/> <BR/>Burglary 19 63 -69.84%<BR/>BMV 197 213 -7.51%<BR/>Theft 141 166 -15.06%<BR/>Auto Theft 47 76 -38.16%<BR/>Total Non-violent 404 518 -22.01%<BR/><BR/>Grand Total 439 577 -23.92%Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6755166036171373792008-10-06T17:15:00.000-05:002008-10-06T17:15:00.000-05:00well, there is also a privacy concern here. in th...well, there is also a privacy concern here. in the UK, they were/are working on facial recognition software. They can scan faces in range and profile against pictures in the police database.<BR/><BR/>Here we have the police given an ability to scan in a face that belongs to someone long divided from a criminal past, that when found as a match on camera has the ability to be harassed without provocation. So, when the software is 'perfected' anyone that matches or 'hits' on the database can expect many long hours in a police interrogation room?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-61444637546141115252008-10-06T12:05:00.000-05:002008-10-06T12:05:00.000-05:00I have just read a book by a UK Police Blogger cal...I have just read a book by a UK Police Blogger called "Inspector Gadget" (His rank is equivilent to one of your Luitenants.) He points out in his book CCTV results in INCREASED crime figures! For instance, lets say some persons leaving a bar get involved in a altercation, nothing serious just some pushing and shoving, prior to CCTV nothing more would be done. With CCTV the camera operators see it happening and report a crime to the police, police are dispatched and arrive at the scene after the event has passed, normally the persons would want nothing further to be to be done, but because the police have "evidence" of the "crime" being commited in the form of video arrests and prosecutions follow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-18051702489077963892008-10-06T10:23:00.000-05:002008-10-06T10:23:00.000-05:00Good point, Travis, I'd missed that tidbit. In fac...Good point, Travis, I'd missed that tidbit. In fact, it doesn't look like they found any evidence connecting these four to breaking into the newspaper box - e.g., the coinage. Perhaps the link between cameras and crime fighting is even more tenuous than I'd suggested in this case. If you just stopped people randomly on the streets, after all, <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-than-10-of-texans-currently-wanted.html" REL="nofollow">more than 10% of adult Texans have outstanding arrest warrants</A>.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-12939027494621432032008-10-05T14:54:00.000-05:002008-10-05T14:54:00.000-05:00Just a note. According to the article the camera o...Just a note. According to the article the camera operators did not actually spot the crime. Al tho they did help in the capture of the alleged crooks.<BR/><BR/>"...officials monitoring the downtown surveillance cameras were *notified* that several people had just broken into a coin-operated newspaper machine..."Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967361092364950816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-86116062477160697702008-10-05T14:16:00.000-05:002008-10-05T14:16:00.000-05:001:09 - Your drivel about eyewitnesses, prisons, TY...1:09 - Your drivel about eyewitnesses, prisons, TYC and squad cars make you sound like an idiot. The rest of your comment makes me think you might possibly have the ability to engage in a constructive conversation, but not if you just discount all research you don't like and whine instead of construct an argument. My advice to you, amigo: Study more, assume less.<BR/><BR/>What you think and what evidence proves are, obviously, two different things. If you can show me one peer reviewed longitudinal study that says cameras in public spaces "deter" crime, we can talk further, but when you go look you'll find they don't exist - they all conclude the opposite. Even <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2008/07/cctv-proponents-should-abandon-claims.html" REL="nofollow">camera supporters say so</A>. Cameras have a role when used to target specific, high-value assets but there's no cost-benefit analysis supporting their use for general public surveillance.<BR/><BR/>The comment "nothing beats camera footage when it comes to evidence" just displays ignorance of how they're used on the ground. Most images aren't good enough for identification, and the devices are easily defeated by "high tech" means like hats, sunglasses or a six-cent paint ball pellet. Worse, where public surveillance footage is ubiquitous, as in the UK, <A HREF="http://worldwearydetective.blogspot.com/2006/01/watching-you-catching-you-locking-you.html" REL="nofollow">cops waste many valuable hours viewing worthless tape</A> instead of following up leads. That's not my analysis - it comes from cops who used the cameras and <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/03/britain-surveillance-cameras-do-not.html" REL="nofollow">measured the results in Britain</A> over many years.<BR/><BR/>It's easy to fall back on hunches and coventional wisdom on topics you know nothing about, as you've done here, but don't pretend they're superior to research-based analysis just because it's more comfortable and challenges fewer of your assumptions.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-20009740926470365992008-10-05T13:09:00.000-05:002008-10-05T13:09:00.000-05:00Your right Grits. I like your no cameras campaign...Your right Grits. I like your no cameras campaign! No cameras in TDCJ! No cameras in TYC! No cameras in squad cars! Lets take it to the limit! After all, they don't deter crime! Your studies prove it!<BR/><BR/>I personally think that cameras deter crime and if they don't they can be crucial exculpatory evidence and incriminating evidence. I'm not saying that we should place cameras in peoples homes but I do believe that nothing beats camera footage when it comes to evidence. If they are placed in public places then I see no problems with that.<BR/><BR/>If you can't use cameras, if you don't like eye witness testimony, what do you want the police to use Grits?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-2243061879291586322008-10-05T07:52:00.000-05:002008-10-05T07:52:00.000-05:00No, 3:13, I'm saying they should not have cameras ...No, 3:13, I'm saying they should not have cameras downtown because they don't reduce crime and divert police resources. Every <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/03/britain-surveillance-cameras-do-not.html" REL="nofollow">long-term study</A> on the topic reaches the same conclusion. Evidence from real-world use <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2008/07/cctv-proponents-should-abandon-claims.html" REL="nofollow">fails to support claims that it's possible to achieve general crime reductions</A> because of cameras.<BR/><BR/>The point about other neighborhoods was to debunk DPD claims to have reduced crime. The statement doesn't jibe with their overall citywide crime numbers, so for what they say to be true (crime went down 20% in the central business district), by definition it must also be true that crime went UP in other neighborhoods to explain the data.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I believe the completely unsubstantiated claim of a 20% crime reduction in the CBD is a public-relations-driven lie, and will continue to think that until somebody shows me data that substantiates DPD's claims, which don't make sense on their face.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10601012931284635052008-10-05T03:42:00.000-05:002008-10-05T03:42:00.000-05:00Abilene prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence:M...Abilene prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence:<BR/><BR/>March 22, 2007 <BR/> <BR/>The CCA found that the Abilene prosecutors INTENTIONALLY withheld exculpatory evidence with the specific intent to avoid an acquittal. <BR/>Footnote 20 of the majority opinion says:<BR/>"20. In West, 451 A.2d at 1235, the Court stated that what "is encompassed by intentional misconduct . . . is not the mere general intent to do the act but, additionally, the special intent to attain some specific end thereby." West provides two situations where retrial after a defense-requested mistrial is jeopardy-barred under Oregon v. Kennedy. See West, 451 A.2d at 1235. The second, more familiar, situation is a mistrial when the prosecution intentionally commits some erroneous act with the specific intent to provoke or goad the defendant into moving for a mistrial to avert a probable acquittal. See id. The first, less familiar, situation is a mistrial when the prosecution attempts not to get caught intentionally committing some erroneous act (e.g., not disclosing evidence) with the specific intent to avoid a probable defeat. See id. The evidence in this case supports this latter situation.Also, recall that the State claimed at the mistrial hearing that there is no evidence that it "did this to goad [the defense] into asking for a mistrial, or that [it] knew that if [the defense] found this out that it would goad them into a mistrial." (Emphasis supplied)."<BR/>The misconduct of the prosecutors was so extreme that the CCA felt it met the difficult Oregon v. Kennedy standard for double jeopardy barred reprosecution.<BR/>The Taylor County prosecutors (including now Judge Robert Harper) all justified intentionally withholding exculpatory evidence by claiming they didn't know the defendant might call for a mistrial if he found out about the withheld evidence. Even the dissenting opinions agree the prosecutors were..."wrong, wrong, wrong..." The prosecutors intentionally withheld exculpatory evidence "...not once, not twice, but three times..."<BR/>The majority opinion is at:<BR/>http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OPINIONS/HTMLOPINIONINFO.ASP?OPINIONID=15153<BR/>Click below and search Masonheimer to read the dissenting opinions:<BR/>http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/handdown.asp?FullDate=20070321<BR/>Make sure to read the footnotes on all of these opinions.<BR/>When the Taylor County DA's Office has this attitude about withholding Brady evidence, is it possible for anyone get a fair trial in Taylor County?<BR/>Is anyone at the TDCAA paying attention?<BR/>http://tdcaa.infopop.net<BR/><BR/>Appeals court nixes retrial for Trent man on murder charge <BR/>By Jerry Daniel Reed / reedj@reporternews.com<BR/>March 22, 2007 <BR/>Criticizing prosecutors' handling of evidence considered favorable to the defense, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled on Wednesday that to again try James Masonheimer of Trent on a murder charge would constitute double jeopardy. But Taylor County District Attorney James Eidson said the 6-3 opinion doesn't necessarily end the case. ''It's obviously a divided court, and it's going to be pursued further,'' Eidson said. The state could petition for a rehearing of the case by Texas' highest criminal court or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. Two previous court proceedings involving Masonheimer, now in his mid-60s, ended in mistrials - the first in December 2002, a jury trial; and the second in April 2003 a no contest plea heard by a judge. In the latter case, the judge was charged with determining whether the state had presented sufficient evidence to convict the defendant. Masonheimer was accused of shooting Gilbert Sanchez, 40, of Merkel five times in June 2001. Masonheimer admitted the shooting, but maintained that he killed his daughter's former boyfriend to protect her from a man who had threatened and terrorized her, according to Reporter-News files. Then-Senior Judge Billy John Edwards ruled in the April 2003 trial that double jeopardy barred the retrial of Masonheimer, but the 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland later reversed that ruling. The Court of Criminal Appeals opinion on Wednesday reversed the Eastland court's decision. On Wednesday, Judge Barbara Hervey of the criminal appeals court wrote that the two mistrials ''were provoked primarily by the state's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence with the specific intent to avoid an acquittal at the first proceeding.'' Sanchez's possession of a substance alleged to be steroids, and two witnesses' statements were evidence that Masonheimer's lawyers contended prosecutors were late in turning over to the defense. Steroids are sometimes linked with violent and erratic behavior.<BR/>IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS<BR/>OF TEXAS<BR/><BR/>NO. PD-521-05<BR/><BR/>EX PARTE JAMES S. MASONHEIMER, Appellee<BR/><BR/>ON APPELLEE'S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW <BR/>AND STATE'S CROSS-PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW<BR/>FROM THE ELEVENTH COURT OF APPEALS<BR/>TAYLOR COUNTY<BR/>Hervey, J., delivered the opinion of the Court in which Meyers, Price, Johnson, Keasler, and Holcomb, JJ., joined. Meyers, J., filed a concurring opinion. Keller, P.J., filed a dissenting opinion. Womack, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which Keller, P.J., joined. Cochran, J., filed a dissenting opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-45881720696010205092008-10-04T17:25:00.000-05:002008-10-04T17:25:00.000-05:00Artificial Intelligence programs are being develop...Artificial Intelligence programs are being developed to interpret street camera scenes and to follow persons or vehicles of interest. Ofcourse the programs don't really work yet but grant money is flowing freely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6491495027050952812008-10-04T17:15:00.000-05:002008-10-04T17:15:00.000-05:00Well, ofcourse cameras will proliferate. The camer...Well, ofcourse cameras will proliferate. The camera firms have lobbyists and the cops sure prefer to sit in an airconditioned surveillance room rather than actually go out and do anything. An occasional press release sure beats actually working for a living.<BR/><BR/>Geographic dispersal? Ofcourse!! Minnesota passed a Get Tough On Prostitutes and made the third streetwalking offense a felony with substantial mandatory prison time thus creating an area in New York City referred to as The Minnesota Strip. This was way back in the sixties. You think anything has actually changed in the interim?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66064523050560685702008-10-04T16:54:00.000-05:002008-10-04T16:54:00.000-05:00I didn't realize this was happening.I didn't realize this was happening.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-26606386939064181962008-10-04T15:13:00.000-05:002008-10-04T15:13:00.000-05:00Are you implying that we should not have cameras d...Are you implying that we should not have cameras downtown because it pushes crime to the neighborhoods? I am not sure I understand that argument.<BR/><BR/>The fact remains is, the number of cameras to deter crime will continue to grow and I think that is a good thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-61128561686292611292008-10-04T11:57:00.001-05:002008-10-04T11:57:00.001-05:00"When you are the victim, alot of times, it is not..."When you are the victim, alot of times, it is not so petty."<BR/><BR/>If theft from vending machines were justification enough for the cameras, Dallas PD wouldn't feel the need to tout that they'd captured an alleged murderer.<BR/><BR/>And if cameras just push crime, petty or not, from one neighborhood to another, that doesn't help much either.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-72463389178253471542008-10-04T11:57:00.000-05:002008-10-04T11:57:00.000-05:00OK, one potential catch on bigger charges, no ment...OK, one potential catch on bigger charges, no mention of recovery of the swag, and no id as to whether these really were the burglars in the box.<BR/><BR/>Hell, chief, we need more cams!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-85421632402952950412008-10-04T11:30:00.000-05:002008-10-04T11:30:00.000-05:00Petty Crime is crime that happens to someone else....Petty Crime is crime that happens to someone else. When you are the victim, alot of times, it is not so petty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com