Web Camera Puts Eye On SF's Notorious Tenderloin

This was in the local news this morning and I thought i would share It

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco's Tenderloin has long been considered one of the city's grittier neighborhoods, but now an intersection in that area is receiving new notoriety on the internet because of a web cam set up by a local resident to stream images live on the net.

Adam Jackson, the creator of the web site, held a fundraiser at Lefty O'Doul's Monday night to try to raise money to get a better camera to show the world what happens outside his apartment window.

The site is called Adam's Block. It documents 24-hours-a-day the activities that take place at the corner of Ellis and Taylor streets. From Street fights to break-ins to high-speed chases, it's a gritty dose of reality from what Jackson calls the worst neighborhood in San Francisco.

In the short time the site has been up, he says it's caught the attention of hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world.

One clip is called "K-O" and features a man being punched and knocked to the street and left laying in traffic. Another clip from Halloween shows dozens of bicyclists blocking the inersection as they ride through the tenderloin.

Another shows a man throwing his body against a bus. Yet another shows a man kicking a lady as she lies on the sidewalk. Adam says he wanted to show the world what was keeping him up at night.

He doesn't watch every minute, but a lot of others who do are getting involved.

"I've had people in Idaho see cars being broken into and call the police," said Jackson. "I’ve filled out two police reports now."

The web camera has been up 5 1/2 weeks. San Francisco police say they just became aware of it last week. While none of the Adam's Block videos have been used in court, officers say the presence of this and other cameras has an impact.

Adam's camera captured a police chase where a car was dragging a police bicycle it had run over. He also caught a street fight and the following police response.

Many in the neighborhood have become aware that their actions could be videotaped. Police say crime at the corner has dropped in the last two weeks. But some say they don't think the camera will make a big difference.

Adam's quest to raise money ended Monday when someone donated a high-definition camera to use for the site. In the coming days, there will be two cameras and eventually a parabolic microphone aimed at that intersection.

http://www.justin.tv/adamsblock

Adam also plans to unveil a new web site: AdamsBlock.com.

peace
Bluezman