boxes atop light poles ... I hope there's more to the boxes than that, but I've no idea what they actualy are.
We call them Robocops around here. What they are is several cameras and a 'gunshot detector' (a microphone plus software). They can be swiveled and zoomed from the local police station (or the downtown network ops center), and they autocenter on any gunshots they hear.
In Chicago, at least, the cops hang them where they can see the big nexuses of black market/drug commerce activity, and the photographs are admissible in court as evidence of wrongdoing or wrong association.
Basically, 'Quit selling that crap HERE or we're going to photograph your ass and arrest you.' Which means they start doing it back alleys and yards and the smaller side streets, but hey. It HAS seemed to put a stop to the big gang throwdowns on major street corners (the ones most likely to hit randomly-driving-by suburbanites with stray bullets), and has made the drug trade a little more small-scale and discreet.
Ah! Okay, that makes sense -- "We're watching and we want you to know it." I didn't see any obvious cameras, but I'll take a long telephoto with me sometime and use it as a telescope to get a better look at the hardware. I'd wondered whether they might have cameras in 'em. Thanks.
(no subject)
We call them Robocops around here. What they are is several cameras and a 'gunshot detector' (a microphone plus software). They can be swiveled and zoomed from the local police station (or the downtown network ops center), and they autocenter on any gunshots they hear.
In Chicago, at least, the cops hang them where they can see the big nexuses of black market/drug commerce activity, and the photographs are admissible in court as evidence of wrongdoing or wrong association.
Basically, 'Quit selling that crap HERE or we're going to photograph your ass and arrest you.' Which means they start doing it back alleys and yards and the smaller side streets, but hey. It HAS seemed to put a stop to the big gang throwdowns on major street corners (the ones most likely to hit randomly-driving-by suburbanites with stray bullets), and has made the drug trade a little more small-scale and discreet.
(no subject)