Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

So I am actually from Edina, I don’t currently live there but my parents do. The context of this is a string of robberies and crimes not normally seen in this suburb. Edina is generally seen as a safe suburb, and all of the recent crime came on very sudden.<p>I don’t agree with the program, but since I have some context around it, I thought I’d add to the conversation.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;minnesota.cbslocal.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;12&#x2F;11&#x2F;edina-pd-offers-5k-reward-for-information-about-4-teenage-suspects-in-attempted-lunds-and-byerlys-carjacking&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;minnesota.cbslocal.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;12&#x2F;11&#x2F;edina-pd-offers-5k...</a>

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021.<p>They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The &#x27;passanger&#x27; then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat.<p>Stolen phones and credit cards are also being used for this.<p>Its out of control. Multiple Amber alerts issued with infants or toddlers in the back seat from separate car jackings are increasingly common. A few days ago another happened. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mprnews.org&#x2F;story&#x2F;2022&#x2F;01&#x2F;07&#x2F;1yearold-missing-in-a-car-stolen-in-minneapolis" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mprnews.org&#x2F;story&#x2F;2022&#x2F;01&#x2F;07&#x2F;1yearold-missing-in...</a>

A few of the comments here seem to have not read the article. This is an opt-in program that effectively creates a map with contact info of private citizens with cameras. When something nefarious happens in a particular area, the police can reach out to the people who put themselves on the map and ask if they have footage and are willing to share it. The police already and have always done this.

In some countries (notably Germany) it is illegal for private citizens to point surveillance cameras at any property they do not own, including public property.<p>This includes dummy cameras (in Germany).

&gt; Minneapolis still encourages residents to register their cameras, but Merchant said that doesn&#x27;t give police &quot;blanket access. ... There has to be consent from the owner.&quot;<p>I&#x27;m glad a warrant-like system is the plan. Technology opens the door to many dystopias I hope we avoid.

The criminals are using social media and tech to organize. It&#x27;s now an arms race where the police and non-criminal citizens need to figure out ways to out-coordinate the criminals.

Solving crimes with cams in times when every one is wearing a mask, specially those who do crimes will wear a mask, a hat or something else more. But how to fix this - put there even more cams :) Genious, really. People, please don&#x27;t do any crimes, cause you gonna weight on the police system now. Please, if you do commit a crime, just during that time, for short, remove your mask and look at the camera. hahaha

Human behavior that tends to self-imprison on a large scale is fascinating to me.<p>In the west we see communities opting in to self surveillance 100% of the time, in China it can be literally having your door welded shut so you stay at home.<p>It all stems from the desire to control other people’s behavior to varying degrees. This desire is probably tied to a survival trait, but more often it is to satisfy something else.