EDITORIAL - Security cameras

There has recently been a surge of crimes in the Philippines whose commission got recorded by security cameras. In a good number of these cases, the recorded images resulted in the capture of the perpetrators.

There is, therefore, no doubt that security cameras are a big help in solving crimes. That there is, no doubt, a surge in sales of these surveillance equipment can only attest to that fact.

There is now even a proposal, apparently well-meant, by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, to saturate roadsides in the city with an array of security cameras. Whether the city goes ahead and does that or not is, however, not the point.

The point is, while security cameras do help solve crimes, they do not help at all in their prevention. The sad truth, in fact, is that they do not even act to deter the commission of crimes.

That a lot of crimes are now getting caught on camera only underscores the fact that criminals do not care whether they are being videotaped or not. What the cameras do capture in addition to the criminal act is the cold resoluteness of criminals in committing crimes.

There is, therefore, a need for us to restrain ourselves, to not go overboard in our eagerness to hitch our stars almost exclusively on security cameras. Let us douse ourselves with the cold fact that while security cams help solve crimes, they do not prevent them.

At the end of the day, it is still the prevention of crime that should get the utmost priority of everyone, especially those tasked to enforce the laws that keep our communities safe, peaceful and orderly.

For of what use is the solution of, say, a murder when such solution does not in any way bring back the life taken away by the crime. If such a life could have been saved to contribute whatever good it can to society, that would have been what is meant by justice for all.