Crime-fighting beats privacy in public places: Americans, by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, support the increased use of surveillance cameras a measure decried by some civil libertarians, but credited in London with helping to catch a variety of perpetrators since the early 1990s. Given the chief arguments, pro and con a way to help solve crimes vs. too much of a government intrusion on privacy it isn’t close: 71 percent of Americans favor the increased use of surveillance cameras, while 25 percent oppose it. London’s surveillance network, known as the ‘Ring of Steel,’ is said to have aided in the capture of suspects, including those accused of a pair of attempted car bombings in June. A similar system is coming to New York City, which plans 100 new surveillance cameras in downtown Manhattan by year’s end and 3,000 public and private by 2010. Chicago and Baltimore plan expanded surveillance systems as well. Critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, have opposed such systems, arguing that they invade privacy, and could be used to track innocent people. Nonetheless, majority support for surveillance cameras crosses political, ideological […]