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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Peoria police deploy crime-fighting "Armadillo"; lowlifes flee in shame |
| 2009-08-19 |
| PEORIA, Ill. -- This industrial city, hard hit by the recession, has found a new, low-budget way to fight crime: Park an unmanned, former Brink's truck bristling with video cameras in front of the dwellings of troublemakers. Police here call it the Armadillo. They say it has restored quiet to some formerly rowdy streets. Neighbors' calls for help have dropped sharply. About half of the truck's targets have fled the neighborhood. "The truck is meant to be obnoxious and to cause shame," says Peoria Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard. The Armadillo has helped alleviate problems like drug dealing that can make neighborhoods unlivable.... 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.... |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #1 So, the cop on the beat is replaced by a heavy weight clunker. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-08-19 14:01 |