Anti-groping Security Cameras Installed on Japan Trains

A pilot scheme for security cameras aboard passenger trains on the JR Saikyo Line began on Monday, as East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) attempts to crack down on train groping.

One train has had two cameras installed in its rearmost carriage on the southbound line (in its front carriage on the northbound line), with plans to expand the system from March after reviewing their effectiveness. Cameras will record continuously, with footage deleted after a set period unless requested by police. The train will do five or so round trips between Saitama and Tokyo a day.

As of Dec. 24, JR East has received a total of 11 opinions regarding the installation of security cameras, with eight showing support for the initiative if it prevents train groping, and the rest questioning its effectiveness.

Cameras Catch Gang on Dublin Double Decker Bus

THREE arrests have been made after a gang of youths engaged in a campaign of vandalism on buses.

The arrests took place in Drimnagh following an investigation which was launched after the windows of buses were kicked out by passengers.

A Dublin Bus source told the Herald the incidents took place over a five-week period between November and December.

On each occasion, a group of youths took over the back seats of the top deck of the buses.

"What they would do is more or less commandeer the back seats," a company insider said.


FOOTPATH

As the buses travelled along Camden Street and then onto Harrington Street in the south inner city area, the gang kicked the windows.

Other passengers sometimes looked around but the gang carried on striking the windows when they looked away again.

"They [the teenagers] would kick harder and harder until eventually it would begin to loosen.

"You would see them [on CCTV cameras] looking out and then kicking the window out," the source said.

The drivers of the buses thought the windows had fallen out accidentally. On two occasions, they fell onto the street and on another occasion the window fell onto the footpath.

All of the incidents happened during peak-time traffic.

The gang always entered the bus wearing hooded tops to hide their faces but, after extensively viewing CCTV images, gardai were able to identify a number of them.

Officials from Dublin Bus only realised vandalism was involved after viewing the photos.

While the cost of the damage only ran into a few hundred euro, the company was concerned that injuries could have occurred as a result of the falling windows. Vandalism is a major problem faced by Dublin Bus, at times leading to services being curtailed or even temporarily stopped.

In 2005, Dublin Bus fitted digital CCTV cameras to its fleet at a cost of €2.8m in an effort to combat on-board smoking, vandalism and other crime.


coverage

Each bus was fitted with up to eight cameras taking pictures every two seconds, allowing for maximum coverage of all areas of the bus.

The system replaced the single analogue cameras used on the top deck of buses.

hnews@herald.ie

Broken Bus Cameras at AC Transit Slow Shooting Investigation

SAN PABLO, Calif. -- A broken surveillance camera is hindering San Pablo police in their search for a man who shot a 51-year-old woman on an Alameda-Contra Costa Transit bus Thursday afternoon....(more)

Angeltrax Camera on School Buses in South Callaway School District

MOKANE - Bus drivers in the South Callaway School District will get some help keeping an eye on students come March.

The school board unanimously voted to install three security cameras in each of the district's 23 buses. Together, the tiny digital cameras will capture every action that goes on inside.

"It's got aspects to it so that we can be viewing the camera in the back and yet listening to what the kids are saying in the front," director of transportation Donnie DeBrodie said. "It shows the entire driver. That's what we're looking at."

Right now, the district is testing the system in one bus - Bus 9. One camera, just to the left of the drivers seat, will monitor students getting on and off, as well as the driver's actions. The two other cameras stationed in the front and back will see everything that goes on in the seats.

"If I get a phone call that a bus is speeding, we can look at that film. Any damage to the seats, [we'll go back to the cameras for] such things as that," DeBrodie said.

Drivers can press a button to mark footage if a conflict happens, which makes the incident more easy for the school district to find and view. That footage will also connect to a GPS system that tracks where the bus travels and what happens in it along the route.

The new cameras will save footage for three weeks, whereas the old single-camera VHS system deleted tape after six hours.

"Student safety and security is No. 1. We're all about students. We realized our security system on our buses was obsolete, and in many cases they failed," superintendent Mary Lynn Battles said.

"We've always had cameras on our school buses. It was the VHS system," DeBrodie said. "What we're doing with this is we're simply upgrading to a digital system. For safety, for training, it's just a better system all around."

It will cost $52,981 to equip all 23 of the district's buses.

"We have normally in the past several years replaced two or three buses. This year, we're replacing one bus, and the additional savings will go to support the security system," Battles said. "This system places our kids in a safer environment."