Police Post Surveillance Images On Internet
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) in Tennessee has started using the Internet to post surveillance pictures of crime scenes in an effort to gather tips from the public. Citizens are asked to notify the police if they recognize anyone in the online pictures.
Images are displayed in a slide-show fashion, and in the past have included scenes from parking lots where the suspects are leaving in getaway vehicles.
East Precinct detective Matthew Filter says the online pictures can be especially helpful if suspects have no prior criminal records. The images are posted on MNPD’s Web site under the heading of “Crimes in Progress.”
MNPD has stepped up its public awareness efforts in recent months to increase the number of visitors to the site, which has produced more than 16,000 hits since it was launched in November.
The department’s Amanda Sluss says MNPD intends to “keep up” with advances in technology as they emerge. “We felt this was a new and innovative way to place photos and surveillance images of criminal suspects in a public setting,” she says.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Tennessean (08/13/06); Bottorff, Christian .
