The Hurtt Prize

[Aspman]

HOUSTON -- Houston's police chief on Wednesday proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers.

"I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...e_Cameras.html


So someone has started the Hurtt Prize:

The Hurtt Prize is a $1855 (and growing) reward for the first person who can provide definitive videotaped evidence of Houston police chief Harold Hurtt committing a crime, any crime. This evidence will posted here and forward to the Houston Police Department along with a demand that action be taken.

http://www.hurttprize.org/

So all you Texans get snapping and make your Police Chief feel safer.

[nonades]

Anyone know if texas has any silly laws like "Its illegal to wake a bear to take a picture of it"? (thats an actual law, I think its in alaska)

I'm sure they could get him on something like that.

[KorpDeath]

This is by far one of the dumbest things I've read this month, it ranks right below Hillary Clinton running for president.

So basically the jackhole who started this prize wants his neighborhood to be over run with criminals?

Sounds like a Cindy Sheehan effort.


stupid.

[Evil Moo]

Originally posted here by KorpDeath
This is by far one of the dumbest things I've read this month, it ranks right below Hillary Clinton running for president.

So basically the jackhole who started this prize wants his neighborhood to be over run with criminals?

Sounds like a Cindy Sheehan effort.


stupid.

That's why broke college students like myself should exploit this "game"--at least, if I were living there. After all, if someone didn't exploit this pointless statement for the quick cash, it would be totally useless.

I'd bust him for "J-walking"...most likely after parking to get lunch or going to and fro from work.

[rapier57]

Seems weird to me that he doesn't have the cash for additional police officers, but has more than enough cash for the cameras, installation, maintenance and monitoring (network and personnel) .

Sounds like someone's priorities are outta whack.

[KorpDeath]

Originally posted here by rapier57
Seems weird to me that he doesn't have the cash for additional police officers, but has more than enough cash for the cameras, installation, maintenance and monitoring (network and personnel) .

Sounds like someone's priorities are outta whack.

I disagree, installing the technology is way cheaper than paying officer's payroll, health benefits, etc. etc. etc. to just stand on a corner and look around. Plus you can have one person watch multiple screens on the other hand there's no way you can one cop on multiple corners. The cameras make sense.

[Egaladeist]

I can't speak for other places but here in Canada the installation of cameras is a sign of the times...a few years back they tried to re-establish community respect and assurance in the police by re-instituting the ' beat cop ' and by opening ' community/neighborhood stations '...like they had years ago when the cop on the beat was a regular member of the community...
unfortunately, it didn't work, they missed the most important aspect of the old beat cop...people skills...cops today just don't have them...
so...they started to turn to technology instead...the beginnings of the camera brigade.

Eg

[Aspman]

Memory fails me a bit but they did reintroduce beat cops in a region here for an experiment. It worked very well, public confidence went up, arrests for street crime went up and the overall crime rate was dropping fast. So they pulled the funding and everything is back as it was.

I don't think there ever was an explaination of why it wasn't continued. I think they were embarressed by the success of 'old fashioned' methods versus the 'new and shiny'.

[rapier57]

Police work is tough. I listen to my son (urban police officer) as he recounts his activities of the previous week and I'm amazed. How the heck did this kid I helped raise get so darned tough, professional and capable?

The policies of the department have a lot to do with the kind of people hired, more so than you would think. Some departments are very "customer service" oriented--community policing. The police officers in those departments have to take a lot of crap and are often micro-managed and over-evaluated. Other departments take a more pragmatic approach and the officers are often more approachable and helpful. But, they don't take any crap.

My son is getting ready to move to a county position, where he will return to they policing style he likes.

Cameras? Well, they'll get put somewhere, and the criminals will move their activities to where the cameras ain't. Pretty soon, there won't be a place where the cameras ain't. So, to justify the costs, they'll keep watch over the ordinary citizenry.

/me Looking for my tin-foil hat and laser deflectors.