Using MMS To Report Anti-Social Behaviour

In Harlow, Essex, and Ipswich, Suffolk, members of the public will be invited to snap photos of graffiti and tagging using their camera phones and send them via MMS to 07739 888 558 with the word "Harlow" or "Ipswich"in the subject or message box, reports Mike Grenville for 160characters.org.

"Andy Solomon of the Suffolk Police said, "We don't want people to put themselves in harm's way by photographing perpetrators as they commit the crime, but we do want to know what is going on and pictures of the aftermath of anti-social behaviour can also be used in evidence."

The service has been developed by image enabling technology company Youview, in conjunction with the Anti-Social Behaviour units in Local Councils and police: www.together.gov.uk.

Each area is able to focus on their own local issues such as graffiti or abandoned cars. By submitting evidence of heroin needles in alleyways, authorities can realise where the problems are and build a campaign to do something abouyt the problem.

With another area already live and another in the pipeline for a September launch, MMS looks set to play a key role in community involvement.

Related campaigns:

-- Camphone Citizen Action in London - Anyone living in the south-east London borough is encouraged to take a snap using their camera phone of the many problems that blight London's roads, such as graffiti or fly-tipping and send it to the council.

-- Cellphones for sleuths - Art thieves of the world, beware. Investigators may soon get a new weapon in the painstaking pursuit of stolen paintings and sculpture - a camera-equipped cellphone.

-- Police camera phones hunt graffiti - Images of etchings are captured on camera phones, emailed to police headquarters and stored in a database of graffiti tags, the trademark sign of the urban street 'artist'. Detectives can then compare them with images of spray paint vandalism in towns and cities.

-- Police test “snap trap” approach - Officers can now photograph graffiti and identify individuals responsible for multiple instances of vandalism by looking at distinctive signatures and styles. “The pictures can be emailed straight from the scene and stored on a database, a bit like fingerprints. We collect the images and can charge an individual with numerous offences rather than just one.”

emily | 7:14 PM | How people and businesses are using cameraphones |
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