Texas man foils Liverpool burglary via webcam
An American man helped foil a burglary 4,589 miles away in northern England after spotting suspects raiding a shop whilst watching a webcam over the Internet, police said on Friday.The man from Dallas, Texas was using a live camera link to look at Mathew Street, an area of Liverpool synonymous with the Beatles as it is home to the famous Cavern Club where the band regularly played.
He saw intruders apparently breaking into a sports store and alerted local police.
"We did get a call from someone in Dallas who was watching on a webcam that looks into the tourist areas, of which Mathew Street is one because of all the Beatles stuff," a Merseyside Police spokeswoman told Reuters.
"He called directly through to police here."
Officers were sent to the scene and three suspects were arrested.
As more and more areas are covered by webcams, I think we'll see this kind of thing more often. Of course, it may take the form of invasions of privacy ("so-and-so was seen entering a sex toy shop"). These days, it's best to assume you're always on camera. They're too cheap not to become ubiquitous.
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mm-tips@mediamatters.org
Their website is:
http://mediamatters.org/
They are the best watchdog group for this kind of thing. What you saw has probably already been noted there.