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From: leff@smu
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Rape (A Solution)
Message-ID: <25100002@smu>
Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 02:02:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: smu.25100002
Posted: Mon Jul 15 02:02:00 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 08:09:46 EDT
Lines: 51
Nf-ID: #N:smu:25100002:000:3115
Nf-From: smu!leff    Jul 15 01:02:00 1985


There is no more reason for a women walking down the street to fear rape
than a parent has to fear that their child will contract polio.

A cost effective solution to the problem of sexual attacks on women (as well
as all forms of street crime) is putting a video camera on every street
corner.  Each corner's camera would be able to rotate and thus observe at
least half way down the street in four directions.  They can be mounted on
separate towers or suspended on wire rope suspended between buildings or
traffic lights.  The cameras would be enclosed in plexiglas to protect against
the stones of vandals.  Using the cables for cable television, the cameras
output would be transmitted to the police station.  Such a system
has been installed on a trial basis on a few corners in University Park at
a cost of $6,000 per camera.

The area covered by each camera (halfway down each of four city blocks)
would contain at least 50 households.  Thus the one time installation
cost would be about $300.00/household.  One person could monitor 30 cameras.
At four fourty hour shifts per week and at $10,000/year for a minimum
wage employee including benefits, it would take $40,000 a year to
monitor these thirty cameras or a cost of about $1000 dollar a year/camera.
Since each camera is protecting 50 households, we have a twenty
dollar/year/household cost for monitoring.  As you can see the costs
are low compared to either the per capita cost for criminal justice or
the charge for something like cable tv.  In many urban areas, the density
would be much higher than fifty households on four half blocks so the 
per household cost would be much lower than specified.  

Motion detectors that would only show those streets with a person or car on
it could be used, we could increase the number of cameras per monitoring
person.  This would reduce continuing costs still further.  The audio
system would be programmed to detect sounds like screams, thus guaranteeing
that every screem would be heard and more importantly acted upon.

These cameras would totally eliminate street crime since it would
be impossible to commit same without being caught.  It would be like
having a cop at every corner at a fraction of the expense.  Any women
walking alone would feel like they were being escorted with an escort
that could summon the police instantaneously.  In addition the cameras
could be connected to videotape systems to provide evidence in the
event of a prosecution.  They could also be used to keep track of
any person leaving the scene of a crime so the police could apprehend
them easily.

Technology has eliminated such dangers as tuberculosis and polio to the
point where they are no longer even talked about by the general populus.
People were once fearful of catching these dread diseases.  Now they are no
longer on people's minds.  In the 1980s, crime is the most feared thing on
peoples minds.  The fear of rape has caused women to change their lifestyle,
the jobs they take and where they live and have in one women's words,
imposed an unwritten curfew.  Technology can eliminate this fear as well!