Camera phone used as crime-stopper

[janelle]

Teen’s photos reportedly led to alleged assailant’s arrest


MSNBC

Aug. 1 — Putting a new technology to an unanticipated use, a teenage boy in New Jersey used his camera cell phone to snap photos of a man who tried to lure him into his car, providing evidence that led to the alleged assailant’s arrest, it was reported Friday.



Police praised the teen for having the ‘presence of mind to use the technology under duress.’

POLICE IN CLIFTON, N.J., told The Record newspaper that the 15-year-old boy was walking home at about 7 p.m. Tuesday when a man in a white, older model Ford pulled up and urged him to get into the car.
“He offered to drive the boy to Passaic to look for girls,” police Detective Capt. Robert Rowan told the paper. “He then started engaging in a sexually explicit conversation.”
The teen, who was not identified, told the man to leave him alone, but the would-be abductor continued to follow him until the boy pulled out his cell phone and began snapping photos. At that point the man jumped out of the vehicle and grabbed the youth by the arm, police said.
“A struggle ensued and the boy was able to pull away and run,” said Rowan, who praised the teen for having the “presence of mind to use the technology under duress.”

The boy later called his brother, who took him to police to report the incident.

The photos of the man were blurry, but police were able to make out the car’s license plate number in a shot taken as the man sped away.
On Wednesday, they arrested 59-year-old William MacDonald, a Passaic bartender, and charged him with attempting to lure a juvenile into a car, criminal restraint and assault. MacDonald, who faces up to five years in jail if convicted, remains jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Kathleen Donleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint, told the newspaper that she had never before heard of someone using one of the camera cell phones, which have been available in the United States for less than a year, to foil a crime.

[janelle]

U.K. fears camera phones’ use
by pedophiles

Cellphones banned at swimming pools, gyms

By Jennifer Carlile
MSNBC

LONDON, June 19 — Advances in cellphone technology have spurred an insidious new threat — the use of the increasingly popular camera phones by pedophiles to photograph children. Across Britain, swimming pools and sports facilities have cracked down on their use while the YMCA in the Australian state of Victoria has also imposed a ban. Officials have yet to raise a clamor in the United States, where the devices have only recently become widely available.



Should camera phones be banned from swimming pools, gyms in U.S.?
* 27355 responses
Yes
58%
No
29%
Not sure
12%

Survey results tallied every 60 seconds. Live Votes reflect respondents' views and are not scientifically valid surveys.


U.K. PARENTS AND child protection agencies say they worry that pedophiles will use the state-of-the-art camera phones to surreptitiously photograph children in changing rooms, instantly mailing the pictures around the world or posting them on pornographic websites.
Britain’s Home Office, the country’s main policing body, joined recreation and child protection agencies recently issued a guidance statement warning of the potential risks involved with the new technology.
Sport facilities across the country have since addressed the issue and many have decided to put up signs alerting the public that camera phones are banned on their premises.
“There was an incident in one center. No-one had realized the potential threat (of camera phones) before, but the huge potential from the one incident alerted us to what could be a significant problem,” said Ralph Riley, director of the privately run Institute of Sport and Recreation Management.
Riley declined to give details of the incident. He added that people have always been asked to use traditional and digital cameras “with discretion in a swimming pool” and that photography will continue to be allowed with special permission.
Meanwhile, a local authority the area of Manchester in northwest England has issued a statement that anyone wishing to use any camera, including camera phones, will have “on their person a visible sticker authorizing consent if challenged by a member of staff or public.”

BAN NOT EASY TO ENFORCE


Though few disagree with the ban, most agree that its enforcement will not be easy. Unless swimmers spot the culprit eye-to-eye, the sound produced by the click of the camera’s simulated shutter would likely be drowned out by youngsters’ shouts resonating through tiled changing rooms.
A spokesman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said pool patrons should “leave such phones at reception,” and that “there should also be designated and trained members of staff to help people to report their concerns if they see someone taking a picture.”
Concerns have spread around the world. In Australia, the YMCA of Sydney rejected a push to accept the ban because it was deemed too difficult to enforce. Sydney’s decision was taken despite a ban now in effect for the 110 YMCA facilities in the state of Victoria, and after a man pleaded guilty to filming young girls in a pool changing room in Melbourne.
In Asia, a fitness club with nine gyms in Hong Kong recently posted signs forbidding the use of camera phones in its locker rooms. And in nearby Macau, the devices have come under scrutiny in casinos and will likely be banned soon, according to media reports.

SCRAMBLING THE SIGNAL
A costly, futuristic way of preventing pedophile photographers would involve scrambling radio signals so that cellular phones could not be used at all in changing areas.

Japan and Australia have allowed such systems, known as GSM jamming, to prevent noisy interruptions at venues such as theaters.
However, jamming systems are illegal in Britain and can disturb emergency communication signals. They may also have an impact on cellular phone usage in proximity to the designated area.
“With the introduction of new developments, such as wall-lining materials which significantly reduce the power of radio signals (recently tried in Japan), it may be possible to avoid using jamming devices and localize areas to be mobile (cellular)-free,” said Tom Perrott, director, of TNS Telecoms, a telecommunications information company, in a press release on the TNS website.
However, such legislation could break the bank for most cell phone operators.

CAMERA PHONES IN CRIMINAL ACTS
Primarily due to the limited availability of camera phones, the vast majority of countries have not considered the ban.
Local recreation officials have raised the issue in Boulder, Colo., but the ban has not been discussed at a national level in the United States.
“That’s the very first I’ve heard of it,” said Lili McGovern, manager of aquatic services for the National Recreation and Park Association.
‘Our message is that technology has to be used responsibly.’
— TOBY ROBSON
Senior press officer for Vodafone “I don’t know that cell phones with cameras are that widely used right now (in the United States). I believe cell technology is more advanced in Europe and Asia than here.”
Experts say that as the use of camera phones becomes more widespread, their involvement in criminal activity will likely increase.
Police in southern England are currently investigating a case in which bystanders allegedly used a video-equipped cell phone to film the rape of a woman in a bar bathroom. Questions are also being raised concerning the use of similar technology in strip clubs.
“On the flip side there are plenty of examples of positive use,” said Toby Robson, senior press officer for Vodafone, a cellular telecommunications company.
For example, “doctors can use camera phones to send x-rays (to specialists) and receive information on them right away.”
“Our message is that technology has to be used responsibly,” said Robson.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has decided that the risk camera phones present outweighs their benefit and has adopted a simple prevention plan: Saudi authorities have banned the devices from the kingdom altogether

[HaveKids,LostMind]

Its all in how ya use it I guess. Some good, some bad, but I still think its a great innovation.