COMMENTARY

1984 WARNING!!!...  This story has to be a pretty blatant 'lets erect dozens upon dozens of security cameras' propaganda type story that we keep seeing more and more of in the mainstream media.  As if it is not enough that town centers and supermarket stores have every inch of their designated streets and shopping aisles covered, now the idea of having these in our own bedrooms is one that they want us to get used to!

The report goes on to tell that the victim said "The burglary was a real violation of my private space...".  No, your having a camera in your home which takes and uploads pictures to the internet is the real violation of your private space, the burglary was a theft of your belongings!  The report then goes on to tell the reader how it is a wonderful genius idea to have such a set up and continues to instruct us all how to do the same.  (Just make sure that you turn the bugger off when you have your girlfriend round on a Friday night!)

In addition, this may be a bark up the wrong tree here, but have you noticed the fatigues of the burglar caught on camera?  Even in stories such as this where the perpetuator of a crime is said to have faced prosecution, one can't help but see the alarming evidence of the story being... well... fake.

Besides being dressed like a textbook 'chav' (UK slang) even down to the baseball cap, what kind of burglar dresses in a classic stereotypical (for a burglar) black and white striped jumper?  At least what kind of real one? Yes okay maybe the kid was drunk or something, but lets consider the idea that this was a set up...

ARTICLE

Original Link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4272041.stm

Serial burglar caught on webcam 

A house burglar was caught after a webcam on the owner's computer recorded images of him carrying out the raid. Stills of serial raider Benjamin Park, 19, of Cambridge, were sent to an email address so even when he stole the computer, the images could be found. 

Police said it was a "brilliant idea" of software engineer Duncan Grisby, who set it after a previous burglary.

Park was given an 11-month jail term by magistrates in Cambridge on Tuesday after admitting burglary.

"I was burgled three years ago and was annoyed at the time because I had thought about setting this system up then, but hadn't got around to it," said Mr Grisby. 

"I was relieved it did what I'd intended it to when I was burgled again. It was nice to catch him in the act - but it didn't stop him from stealing my things. 

"The burglary was a real violation of my private space but at least he got caught. 

"I just wish he'd got a longer sentence." 

Mr Grisby said the system was easy to set up. "There are lot of products for Windows that you can use to do this - though I used some free software and wrote some extra software myself." 

Police described Mr Grisby's idea as "absolutely brilliant". 

"The webcam was set up in his computer and began filming once it registered motion. It captured every movement Park made," said Det Sgt Alan page, head of Cambridgeshire Police Burglary Squad. 

"At one point he stared into the computer as if it might be making a noise or something to make him suspicious. 

"He then stole the computer but it didn't matter because Mr Grisby had set it up so that as it was recording it was sending the images to an email address. 

"When the break-in was discovered Mr Grisby simply gave us the email address and we were able to watch several minutes of footage and say, `That's Ben Park'. 

"Mr Grisby is an extremely bright man. He'd set this up because he'd been burgled some years ago and the quality was superb. 

'Better than alarm' 

"It was better than a burglar alarm and when Park initially denied breaking in to the property we were simply able to show him the footage." 

Magistrates heard Park, who has more than 13 previous convictions for theft, had stolen computer equipment and other property with a value of nearly £4,000 from Mr Grisby's study. 

He committed the offence in February while on bail after being charged with an attempted burglary in Ely, Cambridgeshire, in August. 

"The webcam made our job really easy," added DS Page. "It was a pleasure to show him the pictures and see his expression when we interviewed him."