Pubdate: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Chad Skelton SECURITY CAMERAS ON CITY STREETS DETER CRIMINALS NOT DRUNKS, U.K. EXPERT SAYS VANCOUVER - Closed-circuit security cameras don't do much to deter drunks from rowdy behaviour, according to a British expert on the systems visiting Vancouver this week. On Tuesday, the Vancouver police department said it wants to install high-tech security cameras on the Granville Mall to discourage drunken fights in the city's "entertainment district." But Supt. Rick Naylor, president of the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales, said Britain's CCTV cameras have done little to deter that nation's drunken louts. Naylor said Britain's roughly 200,000 public CCTV cameras are effective in deterring certain types of crime -- such as sophisticated theft rings. "They deter professional criminals who are very surveillance conscious," he said. "It doesn't stop rowdy behaviour," he said. "You probably won't ever dissuade people from that kind of behaviour if they've been drinking heavily all night." Naylor said the cameras also do little to deter another type of criminal common to Vancouver: desperate drug addicts. "You will never stop the chaotic drug user who needs to steal something to get his next fix," he said. What the cameras are useful for, said Naylor, is helping police respond quickly to crimes as they occur -- and to help track down offenders after the fact. "It's a superb investigative tool," he said. "The pictures are great in court and it's led to a lot more guilty pleas because defence attorneys do not want those pictures shown in court -- because if they are, the sentence is increased." People in Canada are used to seeing grainy images from convenience-store security cameras. But Naylor said public cameras, like those in use in Britain, are of very high quality -- allowing police to zoom in on suspects' faces and get an image good enough to identify them. In Britain, the cameras are operated by local governments, who notify the police if they see a crime in progress. On Thursday, B.C. Solicitor-General John Les announced the expansion of a program that uses a new police car-mounted device that automatically scans licence plates. The devices are already widely used in Britain. "We've had some really notable successes," said Naylor. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman