* Blue Light Special's Don't Work as Advertised

Here's a short documentary on the Chicago Police Department POD's in Rogers Park. Or better known to us dumb citizens as the blue light cameras. The city likes to dumb things down for us so we understand. Like everyone else who hears of the Blue Light Camera program, I was thrilled when it came to Morse Avenue in February 2005.

We were told by the 'Powers-That-Be' how great these cameras were at fighting crime. Boy, were we lied too. And what's worse, I initially bought into it. Three years later, living so close to one, my opinion of the POD cameras have changed.

I've monitored the situation closely for three years. I written story after story how the crime activity moved from where the camera was placed, to just a block out of it's sight line. The POD didn't decrease crime - it moved crime to another corner. It moved the crime to the other side of the EL tracks - to the Block/Rider building. It moved crime to Lunt.

This so-called "crime fighting tool" doesn't work as it was advertised. The criminals know it. The police know it. Heck, any high school educated citizen like me knows it.

And in some cases, the brazen crooks know a certain camera isn't being monitored - and then they go back to illegal activities right under the blue light camera. I heard Joe Moore flunky Katy Hogan say this statement many times about the POD at Morse and Glenwood. Listen to the gentleman at the end of the video, he'll tell you what's going on under the blue light at Morse and Glenwood on any given day or night.

The POD cameras do not work. They're nothing more than a feel good, (quote/unquote) "crime fighting tool" the politicians like to pass out to the dumb citizens who actually believe that crime is down mantra. And besides the fact they only move crime a block away, ask any realtor, they don't help the market value when selling a house or condo around them either.