Towns and cities all over the U.S. are moving towards more "community policing." Community policing means assigning police officers to specific neighborhoods rather than having them rotated around the city. It means having police officers spend less time riding in their patrol cars and more time walking the streets and dropping in on community meetings. The ultimate goal of community policing is for police officers to get to know the people who live in the community and for the community to get to know the police officers.
Having police officers who know the names and faces of residents in a neighborhood can be an effective deterent to crime. Residents are more likely to trust a police officer they know and thus are more likely to provide information on criminal activities in their neighborhood. The police officer in tern, gains a better insight into the neighborhood's unique aspects. This can be of tremendous help when responding to a call or working with detectives in solving a crime.
In recent years, police and neighborhood groups around the country have begun utilizing technology to deter crime. In Baltimore for instance, police and merchants mounted 16 video cameras along a economically depressed shopping area just north of the Inner Harbor. The aim of the project is to bring back tourists and shoppers who have been scared off by crime.
Launched with the blessings of Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, it is hoped that the "Video Patrol" will deter drug dealing, muggings, and car thefts in the area. Mayor Schmoke acknowledged that some critics "may get a lttle nervous about Big Brother watching you," but he went on to say "most people want the greater safety" that goes with camera surveillance. Besides he said, the American public has "gotten kind of used to it in airports and banks."
Stuart Comstock-Gay, director of the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said that surveillance of people in public areas is legal and constitutional although he is concerned on its effect on the American way of life.
