Not very many years ago, it would have been possible to drive an SUV packed with explosives into New York’s Times Square, park it, and walk away with no one seeing — or at least remembering — your face. Today, it’s not so easy.
That fact must be troubling whoever was behind Saturday’s botched car bombing. In no time, police released video images with evidence that cops of yesteryear would have drooled to have.
The first video showed the Nissan Pathfinder rolling through Times Square before it was parked on 45th Street. The second showed a 40-ish white male stopping nearby, shedding an outer shirt, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the vehicle and walking away.
Maybe that man had no connection to the crime. But it’s safe to say that this pedestrian was probably the only person in the entire neighborhood Saturday night who may feel he suffered an inexcusable and unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Fears of Big Brother are the customary objection to police surveillance cameras, of which New York City has thousands — “too many cameras to count,” says the New York Civil Liberties Union. But there is little evidence that residents of Gotham feel inhibited by the devices.
Nor do the cameras seem to bother people in Chicago, which is reputed to have the most extensive system in the country. In fact, police here say the only complaints they hear come from residents who want more cameras installed or object to having them removed.
Why? Because giving the police additional means to monitor what’s happening on the street serves to steer criminals away from the spots that are constantly watched. Also because the video equipment can help catch bad guys after the fact. Either effect is bound to help in combating lawlessness.
Numerous crimes have been recorded and exposed by the cameras in Chicago. And they have been a boon elsewhere, too. After the attempted London subway bombings of July 21, 2005, police were able to quickly identify and arrest four men caught on surveillance videos.
It’s too early to know if the footage available to New York police will help solve this crime. But it’s not too early to be glad they have it.
