Police in Manteca, Calif. are asking people who frequent town parks to use their camera phones to take photos of vandals, according to an article in the Manteca Bulletin.
Rex Osborn, a Manteca Police crime prevention officer, says the police “are encouraging park users, regardless of where in Manteca, to use their camera phones when possible to help catch any vandals they may come across.”
In the town’s Woodward Park, damage has been done to playground area and the new bathrooms.
A great help
Osborn says camera phones are “a great help. Many of the images are pretty sharp and we’re using them with school resource officers and beat officers to try and identify those responsible.”
It’s interesting that he praises the quality of the images — at least, the images are good enough to be useful.
There’s little doubt that camera phones are beneficial for security applications and as more people have them, the benefits will increase. Of course, the negative aspects of camera phones also increase, but that’s the way it is with the cliched double-edge sword of technology.
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