Chicago police cameras capture crime on tape: man caught smoking marijuana

AP ^ | August 12, 2003

[new cruelty]

CHICAGO (AP) -- A man caught on tape smoking marijuana in a car is the first person arrested because of new police cameras installed in high-crime areas, according to the department. Marcus Jackson, 22, was arrested Saturday and charged with felony and misdemeanor drug possession. Besides the pot, Jackson was also carrying $60 worth of the club drug ecstasy, police said.

Jackson was freed on $40,000 bond. He is due in court Sept. 3.

Jackson's arrest and the camera that caught him are part of a new plan for ending the crime that blights some neighborhoods in Chicago. He was busted on the West Side, an area with a high murder rate, where police are targeting "off-duty criminals" who might commit more serious offenses, said Pat Camden, a Chicago police spokesman.

"We are looking at potential criminals who affect the quality of life," Camden said. "Sitting in a car smoking reefer sounds innocent enough, but you don't know what he plans to do from there."

A new 100-member police team -- the Targeted Response Unit -- is using the eyes in the sky for help. In one week, the team, which began patrols in early August, recovered 11 guns, impounded 87 vehicles and made 284 arrests on charges ranging from gun possession to car theft.

Police won't reveal the number or locations of the cameras, which Jackson's mother said are "an invasion."

"This isn't fair. It's not like he was dealing drugs," Susie Jackson said. "I don't see how they could arrest him for just sitting there smoking weed. Most young people do that."

The American Civil Liberties Union has said cameras trained on public places are fine but warned they could tread on privacy rights if abused -- for example, if used to look into homes or to follow women.

[new cruelty]

"Sitting in a car smoking reefer sounds innocent enough, but you don't know what he plans to do from there."

[KarlInOhio]

So the camera had a gas spectrometer built in to tell the difference marijuana and tobacco smoke, right?

[new cruelty]

These are really good cameras. : )

[Mears]

Cameras don't bother me at all, they are all over London and when I was there as a woman traveling alone I found it comforting.

[Wolfie]

Guy's gotta learn to go in stealth-mode.

[DWPittelli]

I agree with your point. While people have no privacy expectation in public, I don't see how being photographed smoking a cigarette in your car is probable cause of anything, even if you're holding it funny and/or it's hand-rolled. That said, the camera image could properly lead a cop to go over to check it out, and then the smell or the actions of the driver might readily lead to a legal bust. In which case, it's misleading to credit the bust to the camera. Heaven help us if they can come arrest you based on such photos alone!

[Arkinsaw]

for example, if used to look into homes or to follow women.

Uhh, why is worse for the cameras to follow a woman than a man?

[from occupied ga]

Cameras don't bother me at all, they are all over London and when I was there as a woman traveling alone I found it comforting

Then I suggest you move back there.

[vin-one]

rotflmao

never seen one of those before,again rotflmao

[The Brush]

"I don't see how they could arrest him for just sitting there smoking weed. Most young people do that."

Well that makes it right.
No comment about the drugs mom?

I don't have a problem with cameras, just the thought that they may have a camera focused on them might make people think twice before doing something illegal.
I have a Jesus fish on the back of my vehicle and I drive more responsibly because of it. Whatever works...

[thoughtomator]

Because no man can trust a politician alone with his wife, the law therefore imputes the same motives to all men everywhere.

[1Old Pro]

Cameras don't bother me at all, they are all over London and when I was there as a woman traveling alone I found it comforting.

Sure, after you are raped and the perp leaves you for dead the cops will be able to review the tape and conclude, that you were raped and left for dead and the perp ran away. My advice, get a personal safety device that can stop crimes BEFORE they happen.....a gun. (but not in London)

[BlackbirdSST]

Cameras don't bother me at all, they are all over London and when I was there as a woman traveling alone I found it comforting.

Most sheeple would find that a comfort. Ever been uncomfortable in your residence? Can never be too safe you know! Go back to merry old London. Blackbird.

[coloradan]

Would you also find it comforting if microphones recorded everything you said, sensors in your car recorded you speed and location, people read your mail and e-mail, you sent your film to the government photo-shop for development, and they kept a copy of each print? All of these things have been done by government seeking to keep their citizens "safe" from one thing or another.

[new cruelty]

Men have the innate ability to defend themselves against police cameras. Or something like that. : )

[alpowolf]

I'm sure glad that the cops aren't wasting their time arresting murderers or rapists.

I think it's telling that the first arrest is a drug bust. How long, I wonder, before they graduate to political dissenters?

[ConservativeLawyer]

"Sitting in a car smoking reefer sounds innocent enough, but you don't know what he plans to do from there."

The highlighted portion of the Chicago Police Spokesman's statement makes me very nervous.

[cyborg]

or videotaping the folks drinking in bars... alcohol is more destructive that reefer any day

[george wythe]

I don't have a problem with cameras, just the thought that they may have a camera focused on them might make people think twice before doing something illegal.

Or they could vandalize the camera before they do anything illegal.

Given a choice between smoking pot and going to prison for a few years, or vandalizing the camera and smoking pot, I have concerns about the ability of the pot smokers to keep their hands off these cameras.

Of course, the camera repair industry will get richer, just like in the Charles Chaplin's movies where he sent his son to break window panes before Chaplin showed up to fix windows in the neighborhood.

[headsonpikes]

Well, you 'don't know', do you?

You shouldn't be nervous if you've done nothing wrong.

We'll review your tapes and see.....