Smile…Your on Candid Camera

In Washington, DC, when you are outside in public, you have to believe you are being monitored or at least will be at some point.

With over 5,200 surveillance cameras operational in the District, not including the ones in and around private and public schools, cameras run by news organizations, hotels, tourist attractions and even the public, you can assume you will at some point, be under someone’s watchful eye.

There’s even a live National Park Service Cherry Blossom cam and a dozen or so at the National Zoo, spying on the pandas and tigers, 24 hours-a-day.

But the most notable cameras are the 5,200 controlled by various Federal and District government departments, that were recently tried together to be centrally monitored by the DC Police, to improve crime monitoring in the city.

Last year, District police cameras captured three homicides on video and saw a 19% reduction in violent crime in areas covered by surveillance cameras. And while some groups, including the ACLU, criticize cameras as a violation of civil rights and privacy, they seem to forget that every time you walk in to just about any retail establishment, restaurant, hotel, mall, or commercial or government building, you are probably being caught on video.

Only one city in the world has more surveillance camera – London, with over 10,000 cameras deployed. And the two next closest U.S. cities, New York (3,000 cameras) and Chicago (2,000), lag way behind DC’s 5,200.

You can also watch some of the area’s 100 DC traffic cameras, and others observing area traffic around Maryland and Virginia.

The District Police has also been deploying deployed a network of ShotSpotter gunfire sensors, that by this Fall, will cover almost 25% of the District’s area, especially in high-crime area. The coffee can sized sensors can quickly pinpoint the location of gunfire and notify police. To date, police have been able to quickly locate 13 homicide victims and close to 50 victims of assault where firearms were used.