San Francisco security cameras ineffective due to poor framerates
We're not huge fans of overzealous security camera deployment, but if you're going to spend taxpayer money deploying nannycams, at least make sure they're capturing more than one frame every two seconds -- the rate at which San Francisco's $900,000 system is running. A study of the city's 68 cameras found that the system has only led to one arrest in two and a half years of operation, and the main reason for the failure is uselessly slow video -- which is grainy, to boot. Compare that to Chicago's much-hated (but effective) system, which runs at 30fps, and it's obvious why the president of San Francisco's Police Commission said the city was "throwing money away." There's no word on how or when the issue might be resolved, but the city is due to review the system and issue a determination soon. Check the read link for a video of the system in (in)action.
[Thanks, Paul B.]
