The Dallas police are encouraging consumers to take photos of criminal acts they witness, if taking the photo doesn't put the consumer in danger, according to an article on NBC 5 Dallas.
The call for camera phone photos was made after police saw a camera phone photo of an automobile used by a man who allegedly killed another man in a Dallas parking lot.
The article's lead says, "Dallas police say a quick-thinking witness is helping them track down a killer. Police are always reminding us to call 911 in an emergency, and now they're saying if you have a camera phone and you witness a crime, snap a picture."
Tracking a suspect
The woman took a photo of a Grand Marquis that was used by the suspect. She also took a photo of an automobile whose occupants spoke to the suspect.
Sr. Cpl. Jamie Kimbrough says in the article, "We don't ever want anyone to put themselves in harm's way, but if you're at a location you're able to take a picture to help us further our investigation, it's very much appreciated."
I'm in favor of using camera phones this way, but I've also written and been quoted in print that I believe people will be killed taking camera phone photos, whether it's of a killer, police brutality, government abuses or other actions where the person being photographed doesn't want his/her photo taken.
As I've written many times, when hundreds of millions are able to document with still photos and videos everything that occurs around them and qucikly transmit those images...things change.
Run spell check.. What is the word qucikly?
Posted by: jean-claude | Thursday, December 22, 2005 at 09:24 PM