How technology played a role in the arrest of 2 suspects In the Damage rampage at Holiday Park VFD

How technology played a role in the arrest of 2 suspects

In the Damage rampage at Holiday Park VFD

 

Nick Markowitz Jr.

Fire Investigator

 2 young men unfortunately a Volunteer firefighters with Holiday Park VFD in Plum Boro Pa. Have found out the hard way that technology is used on a daily basis in our area to catch criminals in the act.

This Case starts at Aprox 2:30 AM 3/5/2004 at Carwash Country a coin operated facility located along Pa. Rt. 286 the Miracle Mile in Plum Boro 2 young men in late teens drive up in a White Trans-am take a halligan Bar and are using it to break into a Coke Vending Machine and all during the 10 minute attack on the machine unknown to them they are being video taped by a color surveillance camera watching the machines in the area. They eventually realize the black lexan box has a camera behind it and attack the box thinking they have destroyed the camera and there worries are over. They came to my customers Carwash after they had just broken in a garage door with the Trans -Am at Holiday Park VFD and damaged their squad truck over a previous argument they had earlier in the day.  The owner arrives in the morning to find his machine has been attacked and retrieves the tape showing the attack His brother who is with him immediately recognizes the halligan bar having been a volunteer himself

And they take the tape to Plum Boro police who initially handle the incident as an everyday break-in attempt till they mention the individuals may be fireman.

The Police now had the evidence they needed to proceed with the arrest with one suspect being arrested ironically at a full serve carwash in Harrison City .The 2 suspects thought they were safe having smashed the camera but they were wrong because the camera was attached to a recorder which is secured in a separate area and also has it’s own battery back up if thief’s cut power to the carwash and had they tried to get into the carwash office and destroy the tape the full coverage alarm system would have sounded and communication would still have gotten out even if they cut the phone line by way of  cellular radio backup .Some sites the video is not even on site it is recorded off site at a secure location. And because my customer uses a video tape recorder instead of the new Digital video Recorder technology the tape can be enhanced by the county crime lab to help in prosecution as DVR technology is often questioned in court to authenticity as only the higher end DVR units have watermarking to ensure recordings have not been tampered with. Tape also allows for indefinite enhancement and blowing up of the picture unlike digital, which is limited how far you can blow up a picture for details.

As was the recent case in Florida were a girl was abducted and killed and the abduction was captured on DVR so it could only be enhanced so far as police were unable to get the name tag on the shirt the man was wearing If it had been recorded on traditional VCR tape they would have had been able to get much clearer pictures this is why the FDIC requires video tape in banks. Video cameras are every where and are being used to solve many crimes committed against homes and business and with advanced video enhancement techniques even bad video can be cleaned up and be useful in serious crimes. A system I installed at a Foodland caught 2 juveniles when they came in and purchased the materials they needed to catch the building on fire next to the Foodland .The 2 eventually plead guilty but my camera system was not the only one to catch them in the act a system installed at a bank which watched ATM transactions also helped.

4 individuals are currently under or will shortly be under arrest for breaking into vending machines in self serve Laundromat in Carrick were I installed a conventional camera and 3 hidden cameras which caught the attackers who did not realize they were being video taped the phony cameras I had mounted on purpose to look like a dummy cameras were in fact dummy camera housings with real cameras in side the thieves can be seen in the video pointing and laughing at the dummy camera looks like the joke is on them  Many of the systems I have installed have been helpful in cutting down on crime

And many shoplifting, inside employee thefts, slip and fall scams, Customers attacking employees   have been stopped and individuals prosecuted. Just imagine if we had cameras mounted on the front of fire trucks to catch those who will not get out of the way of us responding to calls. One rule always which must be followed when using camera technology is they can not be installed were there is an expectation of privacy, bathrooms, locker rooms Etc. but any were else is fair game and signs do not have to be posted something most thieves fail to realize.