Persuasive Essay On Electronic Surveillance

Have you ever looked up while in a public place and noticed a camera watching you? While some people may be alarmed, others feel a sense of safety and protection. Electronic surveillance consists of cameras in public places to watch over the city streets or parks. Their purpose is to allow policemen and the state government to know when crime is happening and where in the city. Cameras provide a great advantage of protection over just having police officers patrol the cities. These men and women cannot be everywhere at one time, but the cameras can. Electronic surveillance should be accepted worldwide because it can identify criminals and decrease crime in cities.

One reason electronic surveillance should be accepted worldwide is because it

When a criminal is in a position where he can catch a victim in privacy where no one can see, chances are, he will commit a crime. However, if he knew there was a surveillance cameras watching everywhere he goes, he is very less likely to commit the crime. He may begin to think, “I am going to get caught if I do this crime, so I should not do it.” A town in Connecticut installed several security cameras in a neighborhood that had begun to have a large number of crimes and murders. They were able to pay for all of the cameras with grant money. A policeman in the area was quick to express his opinion. “The cameras have a psychological effect of making people feel safer.” Many of the citizens in the town supported the idea of surveillance cameras, knowing it would decrease the crime in the areas. According to Jason Roche, “the feeling of being watched has a profound effect on human psychology.” Roche, a writer for the Manhattan Daily Collegian, argues that the sense of being watched can only improve human behavior. It proliferates a feeling of tension and nervousness, causing citizens to be on best behavior for fear of being caught doing something wrong. Gregory Suhr, a police officer in California, stated that the crime in San Francisco had decreased by thirty percent after cameras were installed. It also helped to solve many criminal cases. He addresses the argument of privacy, and says that the cameras are all placed in public places and never used out of