(Bad) Photo of the Day

Did anyone see what happened?

Contact Santa Cruz Police (831) 420-5820.

The owners of the store have enough tragedy in their lives. They lost their daughter, Natasha Noland, in the party bus accident in July, which still has not been fully investigated by the Highway Patrol.

Here are the comments from people at the Take Back Santa Cruz Facebook Page, where Tommy Brisley posted this picture:

• NG That SUCKS!
• CM WTF?
• TB Keep an eye out for dirtbags on shiny new decks!
• IM Damn, this pisses me off. Making a point to go in for a purchase later.
• CB Going to be like NYC with metal roll gates over windows
• JH: I wonder when they're going to start torching stores on Pacific, they're already torching cars in the neighborhood
• TG: I can't believe there aren't quality SCPD surveillance cameras for the whole mall and side streets.
• BAM I think Toby's right, it's time for cameras. I'm okay with that as long as they get my good side. That's abominable behavior, and yep, I'm sick of it.
•  CP Toby and Beth I know you have the best of intentions but we need to walk a fine line between fighting crime and turning Santa Cruz into a police state. I think PD cameras all over is a bad idea. We need to stop slapping wrists and start busting heads in Santa Cruz (figures of speech folks...) Look at what just happened to the 75 river scumbags, they all got let off and there's plenty of video showing what they did. The local justice system needs to get a lot tougher so thugs have incentive to not be a part of it.
• TB I know many business owners on Pacific Ave. they would love to have cameras! I have no problem at all with it. If your not f@cking off then why would you care?
• CB Cameras have solved a lot of crimes, in very public places
• TG There are cameras at all of the major intersections in and out of SC, getting them on the problem areas (Pacific Ave and Front Street, at least) is a no brainer. I can't think of too many businesses that don't have cameras and I don't consider that an invasion of my privacy.
  We're behind the curve. Read up on the video surveillance in the UK.
• TB CP, you are right on that the "justice" system here needs to step it up big time. If we need more jail space set up fenced in detainment camps with tents.
• JH SCPD has a budget for 94 sworn officers, but only 88 positions are filled (this number includes the chief, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and officers). They handle over 100,000 calls for service each year (over 1000 per sworn officer). Clearly, our police are truly incredible and extremely hard workers. It is also clear that we do not have enough, even though SCPD gets the lion's share of the city budget and the manager has been working to "reform (aka "cut") their benefits (i.e., pension).
• CP TG the intersection cameras are for vehicle detection not security (for the traffic signal operation). I love the idea of businesses loading their stores with as many cameras as possible which, yes, has proven to be extremely effective at catching criminals as well as prevention. I also know that SCPD will has asked private businesses for their video footage if their camera's happen to see something happen out in public, even if it had nothing to do with their business. I'm fine with all of that but at some point the line has to be drawn or this will quickly get into the category of warrant-less wiretaps, email observation, etc... I like how Ben Franklin put it: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
• CB hey can zoom in on your nose hairs now if they want
• TNP After having my tire slashed downtown a few weeks ago, I'm all for cameras downtown. I don't assume privacy when I'm in public anyway, especially with all the web cams set up around town. I am all for empowering extra eyes and backup for the overworked police department. Being downtown on a random Wednesday night this week felt completely unsafe to be walking alone.
• JL This just drives me crazy.
• RPH In the USA you can photograph or video anyone in a public place. That's one of the distinctions between "public" and "private". If you think you have rights to privacy in public you are confused. I suggest you try a dictionary.
• CP Spoken like a true gentleman, but I think you're confused on my stance. I never said that it's illegal, I just questioned if it was a good idea. Obviously most of you think it is, that's fine by me, I was just weighing both sides of the story. Dictionary...is that like a book?
• CB I get where you are coming from Chri
• SS Cameras don't tell lies. They don't require excuses or alibis. Cameras don't blink. Cameras don't have families that they refuse to testify against. And these days, Cameras are cheap. Technology is cheap. If the city doesn't want cameras downtown, maybe the merchants should just organize and do it themselves. Why aren't the Coonertys proposing something like this? Too politically incorrect for their bookstore? Who is the one name wonder responsible for the Downtown Merchants Association? Chip? Biff? Set up cameras at prime locations and just call them "webcams" and stream the cameras live on the "official" City of Santa Cruz website. Put a camera at the foot of the wharf pointing towards Cowells. Put one on the roof of the new arena pointing downtown. Put one in the bell tower pointing down Pacific. Put them all over.
• RO The UK has cameras everywhere..
• MB At the top of the page, there's a pinned post by Analicia requesting people to join in TBSC Solutions Groups. One of those groups is City Actions and one of the proposals there is that the city reimburse business/property owners a portion of the cost for installing video cameras. Much like the water dept partially reimburses for the purchase of low water use washing machines. If anyone is interested in actively working on solutions, please sign up at info@takebacksantacruz.com
• SS If I owned or were going to open a business (especially retail), I would consider it the cost of doing business and my responsibility to have surveillance equipment to protect my employees and my investment. Does anyone know if Pacific Wave had cameras that caught this activity? I'm not convinced that the PD should have to install cameras everywhere, but feel free to convince me..
• SC  SO WRONG! Dammit. WTF is the matter with people