The increasing frequency of Washington DC's "crime emergencies" has alarmed city officials so much that they are taking action. Taking pages directly from the British playbook, Police Chief Ramsey plans to set up cameras to record the murders and rapes that occur daily in some D.C. neighborhoods.

As if to underscore the crime problem, which has been marked among juveniles, a man was killed yesterday at one of the [proposed camera] sites, and a 15-year-old was charged in the death. . .

Had the cameras been up, investigators could have checked whether the killing was recorded. Cameras will roll 24 hours a day but will not be monitored live.

So they aren't trying to prevent crime so much as make it easier for them to investigate the carnage afterward, which reiterates the whole problem of relying on police protection and the 9-1-1 emergency system. On average, police can only prevent crime 5% of the time. For the most part police investigate crimes after the fact and try to bring criminals to justice. That doesn't mean much to the victims.