HOUSTON – How effective are cameras in convenience stores and gas stations? HPD says they may not be as useful as you think, but that’s about to change.
Ten days ago on Wilcrest near the Southwest Freeway, surveillance cameras captured a man walking into a Phillips 66 gas station and convenience store.
“He walked in calmly. He walked around the store,” said Investigator Colleen Nelson of the Houston Police Department. “The next thing you know he has a black semi automatic to the back of the complainant's neck.”
Nelson says the suspect ordered the victim back to the secured booth where the register was located.
“If he had stumbled or if he had been startled, that man would have been dead,” said Nelson.
Thankfully, the gas station was equipped with an upgraded security video system with numerous cameras.
“It's amazing. It's movie quality. Also we were able to enhance the pictures. When you have a surveillance video and it’s good we can do good things with it,” said Nelson.
Surveillance systems are getting better and the prices are going down. A decent system can run as little as $500, but HPD says they are still running into business owners with old VHS systems that have distorted video and wrinkled tapes.
“Yet the business owner wants us to do something with it,” said Nelson.
Last month, crystal-clear video taken inside a restaurant helped police catch a suspect. They hope the Phillips 66 video will do the same.
