There are some police measures that are near-universally supported – like foot and bike patrols – and there are others that split the population in half. When the City of Buffalo installed video cameras throughout the city, including on Elmwood Avenue, the heated debate ensued – those supportive of more aggressive crime-fighting tactics verse those concerned about increased government surveillance. Well, Peoria, Illinois is going to enliven that debate again as the police have introduced the latest crime-fighting technology – a converted Brink’s armored truck tricked out with video cameras.
The Armadillo, as the converted armored truck is nicknamed, is less about surveillance than shame, according to Peoria police.
The Armadillo is the opposite of an undercover operation. Its goal
isn’t making arrests, but alerting suspects that police are on to them,
police say. The surveillance footage is rarely reviewed by the police
and is saved for just a short time before it is erased. Still, the unit
can have a significant impact.
Today’s Wall Street Journal article continues:
She and her husband, Terry, 61, a Butternut baker, have lived in
their home on North Wisconsin Avenue for 30 years, and have seen the
neighborhood fall into drug trafficking. The police suggested using the
Armadillo.
That weekend, the truck pulled up to the offending neighbor’s house.
A police officer knocked on the door and told the residents a nuisance
report had been filed. Within 24 hours, the Smiths say, the house was
quiet. The occupants moved out soon thereafter.
“The difference was like night and day,” Mrs. Smith says. The landlord, Phil Schertz, credits the Armadillo.
“The ugliness of the Armadillo is what makes it unique,” says Jim
Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police. “A
police car is not a particular stigma, but if people see that thing in
front of your house, they know something bad is going on in there.”
Peoria police acknowledge that the truck sometimes just shifts crime
from one area to another. But it can disrupt illegal activities
temporarily. Citizens appear to like the idea, and police say they have
a four-week waiting list of requests for the Armadillo.
Mayor Brown has repeatedly lauded his administration’s crime-reduction success as city crime has been reduced by 12% since 2005 and homicides have been reduced 50% since 2006. Of course, attributing crime reduction to specific tactics is nearly impossible, as any Freakonomics reader knows, as countless variables ultimately affect the crime rate.
But Peoria’s Armadillo raises a question – should Buffalo consider going beyond foot patrols and fixed location surveillance cameras and adopting an Armadillo style approach to crime-fighting?