Greens 21 Report post Posted March 19, 2004 (edited) Perfect Reason To Own A Camera Phone Source: Economic Times, March 19, 2004 When Lisa Johnson saw a man exposing himself to her in a parking lot, she reached for her cell phone -- not to call 911, but to snap a picture. The images captured on her camera phone led police to the capture of a former principal from a nearby high school. After his arrest on public indecency charges, he resigned. Cell phones that can take pictures are becoming a more common way for victims and other witnesses to help police capture criminals. Because the phones are so portable and always on, it takes only a moment to photograph the face or license plate of someone in the act of a crime. “I guess I was just quick on my toes,'' said Johnson, who lives in Alpharetta, north of Atlanta. “I had my hand in my pocket, and rather than hit him and break my phone, I remembered there was a camera.'' Camera phones are still a relatively new technology, but already police can point to cases where they have been an important tool. In New Jersey last year, a 15-year-old boy foiled an abduction attempt when he took pictures of a man trying to lure him into a car. In Pittsburgh last month, several visiting university basketball players were cleared of a rape accusation after one team member gave investigators his cell phone, which he had used to videotape some of the encounter. In Japan, an 18-year-old woman took a photo of a 38-year-old man who was fondling her on a commuter train, and police arrested him at the next stop. In Sweden, a convenience store owner took a picture of a robber that was used to help identify and arrest the criminal. “It's an excellent improvement in technology. Everyone has them with them all the time,'' said Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton, New Jersey, police department, which investigated the teen's abduction attempt. ``You have sort of a crime-fighting device on your person at all times.'' On the other hand, camera phones have gotten a bad rap because of reports they've been used in locker rooms and strip clubs to capture nude images that get posted on the Internet, said Alan Reiter, who runs the Web log cameraphonereport.com, which gathers information about wireless photography. Their real impact will be in the future, when millions of phone users will be able to document any event at any time. “It's tougher to escape with any open brutality or crimes when people are able to document what you're doing,'' he said. Edited March 19, 2004 by Ashokjp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gdi123 0 Report post Posted March 20, 2004 also the perfect reason why they should reduce the prices of camera phones Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
