Police officer's put their lives on the line to protect us and enforce the law on a regular basis, but when one of them is the victim some good security camera footage can mean the difference between apprehending the guilty party or not. When a policemen who is responsible for catching criminals is murdered it is imperative to catch the killer, because if this type of criminal can't be caught, how can the average civilian expect safety anywhere.
On October 31st of 2007 a twenty one year old man walked into a Dunkin' Donuts shop in Philadelphia and drew a handgun on the clerk behind the counter. While this armed robbery was in progress, a 54 year old Philadelphia police officer walked into the store without any knowledge of the crime that was happening. Without hesitation, the robber turned and ruthlessly shot the policemen in the head and quickly fled the store. Moments later, the shooter calmly came back in to the donut shop and took the downed officer's handgun before jumping in to his vehicle and driving off. The wounded officer was rushed to the hospital a short time later, but died there the following day.
Thankfully, the store had a good security camera system installed in plain sight before these events and it captured the entire incident on video. After investigators saw the recorded footage, they were easily able to identify the man and they also had more than enough evidence to prosecute the suspect. The cop killer managed to avoid the man hunt for a few days, but in early November U.S Marshals and FBI agents finally caught him in Miami, Florida. A police spokesperson said that shooter fled the Philadelphia area by bus and went to Miami, where he stayed in a homeless shelter until he was arrested.
With all the evidence against him, the killer confessed not to long after being taken in to custody. A Philadelphia jury voted unanimously to find this young man guilty and the judge sentenced him to death by lethal injection for the murder of the 25-year police veteran. The judge also sentenced him to an additional 76 to 152 years for related robbery and firearms charges.
With the recorded video footage showing the complete crime so vividly, it's no surprise that man responsible was apprehended relatively quickly and convicted. Unfortunately, security cameras can't always prevent this type of horrible crime, even though they often act as a deterrent. However, they can be pivotal in the prosecution of such cases when someone decides to commit a crime even when they know that their actions are being recorded.
Source: ezinearticles.com