Vehicle Tracking » Camera

Surveillance Video Suggests Arson at Restaurant

Vehicle Tracking — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:58:31 +0000

Rival Restaurateur Charged in Crime

NEW ORLEANS, LA. – A rivalry between two owners of Asian restaurants near New Orleans got really heated when one approached the other’s establishment under the cover of night and allegedly set it on fire.

Seventy-four-year-old Mae Fong was arrested in Kenner, La. and is accused of setting the blaze at Young’s Garden Chinese Restaurant. Police say a hidden surveillance camera captured an image of Fong near the building at 3 a.m., Oct. 2. That is the approximate time investigators believe the fire was deliberately set.

Mae owns Fong’s Chinese & Cantonese Restaurant, about one block away in the same neighborhood.

A liquid accelerant was used to burn the Young’s Garden restaurant, police said. The building suffered up to $60,000 in damages and was closed for repair.

Fong’s family claims she is innocent.

But the police chief Steve Caraway said that he believed the surveillance camera provided very valuable evidence that will lead to conviction.

It’s hard to refute what can be seen with your own eyes on surveillance video. That is why covert surveillance is a choice many business owners are making.

The loss of time and materials due to an inefficient work environment, slacking employees, cheating and petty theft might seem inconsequential. But the accumulated loss is significant. Surveillance cameras can cut this drain on the pocketbook and improve the bottom line.
Another benefit is when a surveillance camera “catches on tape” actions an employer wasn’t expecting, such as sexual harassment, punching of another’s time card, drinking, consuming drugs, sleeping on the job or other policy violations.
One of the biggest threats to business is competition. Hidden cameras might uncover rival companies or their designated “moles” stealing physical or intellectual property, recruiting your employees or trying to sabotage operations in other ways.

Every day, countless crimes like robbery, vandalism and arson are solved when incriminating evidence is recorded by a surveillance camera. Hidden cameras have busted holes in many well-constructed alibis.

Surveillance cameras, sometimes paired with audio, sometimes not, are readily available today in retail spy stores and at ecommerce sites on the Internet. Systems can be as simple and inexpensive as a spy pen or a hidden camera in a hardcover book; to solutions costing thousands of dollars. Top-of-the-line surveillance cameras can pan, zoom, pivot and respond to motion and light. Some hidden cameras can be monitored live and others record images and/or sound for later review.

A business person would be wise to investigate the variety of surveillance products available on the market, and perhaps ask fellow, trusted business people about their experiences with covert surveillance products. Unbiased law enforcement personnel and security experts might also recommend a quality surveillance system. Inquiries should lead to an informed purchase and a surveillance system that is likely to pay for itself in a short period of time.

Source: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans

Army Shopping for Super Surveillance Camera

Vehicle Tracking — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:08:33 +0000

To learn about the latest in surveillance technology, look no further than the U.S. Military. When it comes to the defense of the country, the government – equipment wise – pulls out all the stops.

Now the U.S. Army is shopping around for an amazing surveillance camera; an unmanned aircraft-mounted marvel, that would capture a 62-square-mile area in real-time and with great resolution from end to end. Even more impressive, the surveillance camera will have the ability to see at night by infrared light.

Rumor has it that this surveillance technology is only a few years away. Technology is advancing so quickly – and surveillance equipment is becoming increasingly smaller and lighter – that the goal is within reach.

The Air Force is already building a “flying eye” called the Gorgon Stare on a lesser scale, and it plans to flight test the surveillance system next year. The Gorgon Stare surveillance camera covers about 25 square miles. The price tag for an order of 10 systems is about $150 million. The Gorgon Stare will be mounted under the nose of a Reaper unmanned aircraft.

Reapers are often used by the military for surveillance, mostly vehicle tracking, or to hover over buildings and watch for escaping insurgents. These surveillance subjects are easily lost when they move out of range of current video sensors, which have a single field of view. With the Gorgon Stare, the range is wider, and it will have a set of 12 surveillance cameras. Up to 12 controllers can each run a camera angle, from a remote location, for an independent view.

As impressive as the Gorgon Stare sounds, the Army’s dream airborne surveillance camera is a taller order. The Army is looking for real-time surveillance over a much larger territory, with 2.3 gigapixels clarity (the closest sensor is currently 1.8 gigapixel resolution). With infrared range, (the ability to see warm objects like people and animals hiding under cover in the dark) the surveillance camera would be able to illuminate people and they wouldn’t be aware that they are seen.

Once the surveillance technology becomes a reality for the military, spinoffs should later become available for ordinary consumers. Certainly not, though, with a military-style price tag. Practical applications in everyday life for wide-range flying surveillance cameras include search and rescue, port and border protection, security, transportation and crime prevention.

It’s a reflection of the wide variety of spy and surveillance equipment, software and systems already on the market. Easily-accessible and affordable surveillance products include many that were once used only by government, military and law enforcement: GPS-based vehicle tracking devices; pinhole cameras built into ordinary objects like pens, neckties and wall-mount clocks; keyloggers for computer surveillance; and cell phone SIM card readers that are even able to retrieve deleted text messages.

Court Sides with Employer in Hidden Camera Case

Vehicle Tracking — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:25:48 +0000

Business owners scored a small victory in August, when the California Supreme Court ruled that a corporation was justified in using a hidden surveillance camera.

Two women workers, Maria-Jose Lopez and Abigail Hernandez, had brought suit against Hillsides Inc., a nonprofit that runs a group home for battered children in Pasadena, Calif. The women said they were horrified and alarmed when they discovered their employer had been running a surveillance camera in the office they shared. One woman said she used the office often to change into gym clothes after work and the other admitted there were occasions when she showed her coworker parts of her body, proving that she had lost weight after pregnancy.

Hillsides’ executive director set up the hidden camera in an attempt to catch an employee who allegedly was downloading pornography from a corporation computer.

At issue was not so much whether the employer had a right in this case to set up a surveillance camera in the workplace. The court agreed that Hillsides had reason to suspect an illegal activity by an employee; and that the activity, if unchecked, might cause harm to clients, customers or employees.

The ruling more accurately stemmed from whether the women’s rights were violated because the placement of the surveillance camera was in a semi-secluded office where they expected some level of privacy.

The potential good (the surveillance camera exposing dangerous behavior) far outweighed any potential harm to employees.

The court failed to make a blanket statement that surveillance cameras were okay in the workplace. In fact, statements were quite to the contrary, indicating the issue of surveillance cameras in the workplace is bound to be debated in the future and considered on a case-by-case basis.

The main justice who wrote the opinion for the California Supreme Court said that the court did not intend to encourage employers to install secret surveillance systems, but said that employers do have a right to monitor company computers to see that they are not being misused.

In support of employees, justices also seemed to suggest that hidden surveillance camera use would be highly questionable, even illegal, in rest rooms, dressing rooms and showers, where modesty is still at stake. In some surveillance camera cases, voyeurism is the intent; not crime prevention or misuse of company time or property.

But in the Hillsides case, the taping was done late at night, when the office should have been empty. No one but the executive director operated the surveillance camera. He came into the office specifically to turn it on and off. The women feared that they were taped, but they never were, and there was no embarrassment or disciplinary action to them, resulting from the surveillance.

An attorney for the women argued that employees should have been told that the area had a surveillance camera and that their actions may be recorded. The defense said it would defeat the purpose of the surveillance – to catch a pornographer who was likely one of the employees.

The conclusion in this case was that surveillance was limited, and the hidden camera was used for a good reason.

The alleged pornographer was never found and it is not known whether he or she is still an employee. The surveillance camera was disabled and Hillsides has installed Internet monitoring software that blocks employee access to offensive Web sites. Another computer surveillance solution is computer keyloggers, which record keystrokes. By monitoring what the employee is typing, keyloggers reveal text messages, e-mails and Web downloads.

Hidden Surveillance Camera Uncovers Burglary Ring

Vehicle Tracking — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:21:01 +0000

ONALASKA, WI – A young Wisconsin couple might be spending some of the early years of their marriage separated and behind bars, since a hidden camera uncovered what appears to be a burglary ring.

Jordan Touchet, 22, and his wife Sarah Touchet, 21, were arrested June 18 after surveillance camera caught Jordan Touchet taking cash from a hotel safe at the Microtel Inn in Onalaska, Wis. Sarah Touchet was an employee of the hotel and was working the front desk at the time of the burglary, according to a criminal complaint filed at La Crosse County Circuit Court.

Each is accused of being parties to the crime of burglary and theft, which are misdemeanors. They also were hit with felony charges for bail jumping related to two pending home burglary cases.

In the latest case at the hotel, Jordan Touchet reportedly denied stealing the cash. But a covert camera proved otherwise. Besides, police say, when he was arrested, he had $268 in cash in his pocket.

Then police discovered that the couple was already on the books, linked to a series of unresolved burglary cases. On Jan. 26 they were arrested for taking jewelry from two Onalaska homes. On March 31 they were arrested for doing the same thing at several other homes in the area. Police claim they rifled through homes and made off with about $25,000 in jewelry and valuables. They gained access to the houses because they were hired to clean them.

In the earlier cases the couple was twice released on signature bonds, where they posted no cash but promised to answer to the charges in court. They didn’t show up for trial.

This month they were not so lucky. For the surveillance camera burglary, Jordan Touchet’s bond was set at $25,000 and Sarah Touchet’s at $10,000. The next step is preliminary hearings.

In Spring and Summer, Home Improvement Scams are in Full Bloom

Vehicle Tracking — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:46:52 +0000

Consumers’ Best Protections are Education, Documentation

In April, a New Jersey handyman was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for collecting more than $11,000 for home repairs and renovations he never completed.

This bit of news might not be very interesting to anyone other than the man’s victims. That’s because home improvement scams are quite common in every U.S. state. As soon as spring flowers emerge and the lawn turns a lush shade of green, the Better Business Bureau and state Attorney General offices see a spike in complaints from consumers, who feel they were cheated by a relative stranger in the security of their own home.

The Better Business Bureau (www.bbbonline.org) and the National Consumer Law Center (www.consumerlaw.org) list home improvement fraud among the biggest consumer complaints. An estimated 300,000 reports are registered in the U.S. annually. The elderly, in moderate and low-income neighborhoods, are prime targets. Actually, unscrupulous handymen are under-reported, because many homeowners are too embarrassed to admit that they got taken.

Hidden Camera Reveals Cut Corners

An ABC-News affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah recently peeked in on a sales visit between a homeowner and an air duct cleaning service. The pitch was recorded with a hidden camera. The salesman was invited in, based on an advertised special of $99.95. The potential customer soon learned the special price was based on a tiny HVAC system in a tiny home. Calculated for a larger system, the price jumped to $400. After adding a sanitizing spray, dust mite treatment, UV light to purify the air, and other extras, the final price was more than 10 times the advertised price.

Nevertheless, the homeowner authorized the work and the service call was recorded by surveillance camera. Almost immediately, the hidden camera “saw” the crew cutting corners. The equipment had poor suction and looked like a glorified Shop-Vac. Workers didn’t use an industry-standard “snake” to agitate dirt in the ducts. The homeowner was charged several hundred dollars for a sanitizing spray, while a chemically-identical product sells at retail for about $10.

People are understandably concerned about the safety of their homes, but they don’t plan on being cheated by the businesses hired to help them.

Gwen Biasi, a spokesperson with the National Association of Remodeling Industry said the “special price” hook is often available “today only,” so the homeowner feels pressure to make a decision.

Surveillance Cameras: Caught in the Act

Vehicle Tracking — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:46:55 +0000

All Sorts of People Buying Covert Video Equipment for Evidence Collection

Being caught red-handed.

The origin of the phase is a matter of some dispute, but its modern-day meaning is clear. “Red-handed” alludes to having blood on one’s hands. To be caught red-handed means evidence clearly shows that an individual committed a forbidden act or a crime.

Short of being there personally, there is no proof so indisputable that an activity took place as film, or digital documentation. Usually, the equipment of choice is a surveillance camera.

Why So Secretive?

We know we’re being taped all the time: at the ATM, in the convenience store or in the parking lot at the shopping mall. Some people might wonder why recording video has to be done in secret. The answer is simple.

Have you ever been harassed by a ranting boss? Has a person of authority encouraged you to cheat? Imagine a businessman seeing his inventory disappear without explanation. Or think “nanny cam.”

The success of a surveillance camera comes from its covert nature. When people know that they are being taped or recorded, they usually act in an acceptable manner. Throw in the cloak of secrecy and they are more likely to reveal their true nature.

Hide the camera and … well, the secret is not-so-secret anymore.

Surveillance cameras are not the cumbersome pieces of equipment they once were. Their lenses can be the size of a pin hole so they are discreet and lightweight. A typical image resolution is 420 lines in black and white and 380 lines resolution in color. The result is video as sharp or sharper than those from common household camcorders.

Functional consumer products that have working surveillance cameras inside them include clocks, smoke detectors, neckties, sunglasses, flashlights and books.