Nicholas Ng's...

Save the Day…The Modern Way! 

Analogies - here’s a thought-provoking one that makes sense and one for you to muse over: Surveillance Cameras in Public Places are to Public Safety as Santa is to Toys. What does this mean? Surveillance cameras provide public safety like Santa Claus gives toys. Santa’s toys make children feel happy and feel that someone cares about them; surveillance cameras in public places create a feeling of safety for citizens and signify that the government cares about its citizens. Furthermore, public surveillance cameras can alert the police of criminal activity and save taxpayers millions of dollars while ensuring public safety. Wouldn’t you vote yes for surveillance cameras in public places?

Surveillance cameras aren’t just there to watch the streets of your town or city. They can give a sense of security to citizens. Think about it, no one would go to a location where they know that robbers could be lurking around each corner and get away with harassing you! Surveillance cameras impede the minds of criminals. When these wicked people know that they could easily be caught, they won’t take as much of a risk to commit crime – resulting in less mischief altogether. This makes me feel safe wherever I am or go. Wouldn’t you feel the same way too?

Surveillance cameras help crime-stoppers to prevent wrongdoings from happening. Surveillance camera watchers can tell police when something unusual happens. The authorities can be alerted before a crime occurs. For example, if a suspicious bag laid in a subway platform and no one claimed it, the police would have been alerted immediately to inspect the bag, preventing a bomb from exploding and hurting innocent lives.

One can argue that purchasing these cameras is a waste of money, but isn’t hiring police to patrol more costly? It takes more money to pay policemen than it does to maintain cameras every year. Purchasing a good surveillance camera costs around $100. A police officer’s salary averages $30 an hour! Do the math. Pay $100 for the camera or pay $720 a day for the patrol! But who’s going to watch the surveillance video? You can hire surveillance camera watchers at $580 a day. This still comes to less than hiring police officers. Also, to patrol multiple areas, you need to hire a police officer for each location. With surveillance cameras, a watcher can oversee several sites at the same time. Surely, buying a camera is more astute.

When you are mauled, you want the person who hurt you to get punish for committing a crime. You take him to court. There, you will need evidence to prove this person had harmed you. Video footage from surveillance cameras has been used to persecute criminals. If you have proof, it is likely that the bad guy will go to jail. If you don’t, then he might walk free and can continue doing harm to others. How would you feel if you knew the person who ran his car into yours is on the loose?

Sociologists have found that cameras don’t reduce crime as much as they say. They only prevent a few crimes every year. Well, what if those violations weren’t videotaped? People could’ve been seriously injured or killed! When you have a deceased person’s family to deal with, that’s not good. Others say that the government should not be able to spy on us. If the police limit cameras to high crime areas in public spaces, then it is not spying; in fact, it can save my or your life. 

“Guilty,” The judge announced sternly. You, the innocent suspect is scared. What are they talking about? What did you do? Then, a person bursts through the doors with a USB. He plugs it into a projector and the screen shows a surveillance camera’s video footage of the crime. Ha! It wasn’t you. You’re now safe. If this was real life, wouldn’t you like to have someone bust through doors and save the day the modern way? Wouldn’t you like to see the real criminal go to jail? It’s possible with surveillance cameras!