Van Nuys : Police Give Tips on Surveillance Photos

To catch more robbery suspects and fewer fuzzy images, Van Nuys robbery detectives are urging merchants to take certain steps with their surveillance cameras.

In a meeting of the Sepulveda Boulevard Business Watch this week, Detective Mel Arnold of the Van Nuys station told about 60 merchants that low-quality tapes and poorly positioned video cameras are the main culprits when it comes to being unable to identify suspects.

“We’ve had jewelry stores where there was $100,000 to $150,000 worth of jewelry stolen where we knew who the suspects were but were unable to (get a positive identification) because of the bad quality of videos,” Arnold said Friday.

Arnold urged that cameras be loaded with a high-quality tape and placed in a location that will record the activity of would-be criminals. Arnold said merchants should also run tape at regular speed, not time-lapse, that the area being filmed should be well-lighted.

In fact, Arnold said, the Fox television show, “L.A.’s Most Wanted,” airing Tuesday will feature a good example of what surveillance tape should look like.

The tape comes from the robbery of a Van Nuys liquor store in the 14000 block of Victory Boulevard on Sept. 12. The video helped identify the suspects and now police hope airing the tape will provide a tip on their whereabouts.