Police Cameras Catch Couples Getting Cozy

by Tom Conlon — Jul 25th 2007 at 2:59PM

In the U.S., couples that publicly slobber over each other earn the disgust of the people around them ... maybe the errant empty beer gets thrown at them, but little else. In Beijing, however, PDA is sometimes viewed as a crime - - by accident. The city's widespread network of closed circuit cameras is monitored by computers, which, according to the Xinhua News Agency, may accidentally interpret public feels as something more sinister, such as kidnapping or robbery. The mix up can occur because the computers are programmed to monitor "violations of safe distances" between people. The computers are kind of like fathers who are overly protective of their daughters.

Though police officers will step in and determine if a dangerous situation is happening or not, the city has gone ahead and put up signs in police-monitored public places, which read in both Chinese and English, "You are entering a camera-monitored zone."

Hey, if it were up to us, PDA would be a punishable crime anyway. Isn't that what pay-by-the-hour motels are for?

From AOL News

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Tags: camera, monitor, privacy, public

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

JChili said 3:40PM on 7-25-2007

People are so rude and inconsiderate these days in public, that people have to have goose steppers watching them, handing them tickets, and arresting them , so that the rest of us polite and nice folks can enjoy ourselves while we out in public.
Too bad , but I like that the cops are watching you scum bags.

jud5w said 7:17PM on 7-25-2007

LET LOVE RULE! Display of affection equals positive togetherness and puts niceness around in which in turn lower the crime rate of the area. A home with loving parents creates nice kids. A cold home or nastiness...well, you know...why make the world cold. What kind of person who can't handle others don't have brains to just look away(?) if it bothers them. YOU SHOULD, DON"T DISRUPT Them! And mind your business, let the real smile it puts on people's faces and should exist inside to know people are in love. In this cold cruel world it's just what we need more of !!! Thank God for being yourself where you go instead of bowing down to weak, little, fearing people. Fear, fear not Love of all things.

thesoutherns2003 said 7:56PM on 7-25-2007

It's rather funny that if 2 people were fighting others would gatherr to watch but if 2 people share a kiss people go all balistic. There are more offensible crimes to be dealt with.

andy takaha said 6:49PM on 7-26-2007

Big Brother,
MYOFB!!!

Kimberly said 10:52PM on 7-25-2007

Doesn't it depend on what kind of PDA we are talking about? Are you offended if people walk around holding hands? That's affection. What about when a child hugs and kisses a friend or parent? Affection again. Now big, tongue in mouth slobbery kisses and major groping of private areas...that's the area most people are offended by. If you pass a general law against public displays of affection...you better watch out that everyone doesn't get snared in it!

andy takaha said 5:26AM on 7-28-2007

"1984" (George Orwell) is running rampant in 2007.Cameras in orbit,on highways, intersections,parking garages & lots and now parks.Where next?I would expect this in a communist nation like China.But we here in the USA are getting a little too camera(surveillance) happy these days.

JoJo said 2:13PM on 7-31-2007

I don't mind showing affection in public, but these days people are so clueless as to what that really means. I've seen people laying on top of each other...licking each other's face, twirling toungues. The weirdest were two teenagers about 14 were groping and kissing each other while in line at Walmart, and the mother of the daughter was standing right next to them. Obvious that the mother had absolutely no class and was passing it down to her trashy acting daughter.

Bob said 2:17PM on 7-31-2007

God forbid you should witness loving, afectionate or kissing in public.
We need more murder, mayhem, sadistic treatment of one another, intolerance, riots, road rage, TV crime, killing and viciousness that seems to meet with general approval. But loveing and careing, how terrible.
Dumb and dumber post your retarded thoughts.

JoJo said 2:18PM on 7-31-2007

In this day and age we need cameras more and more. Look at how quickly the terrorist cases were solved in the UK because they were able to go over footage? Or the woman that was kidnapped outside of a Target store, etc.? People act like all of this film is being kept for posterity, it's not, but when a crime occurs and there are cameras around, at least you have clues, or even actual footage of the person committing a crime...love it when the lawyers can't get another guilty person back on the street to kill or harm again.

Julianna said 2:36PM on 7-31-2007

I believe there are different kinds of PDA. Holding hands, hugging, gentle kisses, are one thing, but hands in innappropriate places, tongue swollowing, and laying on top of eachother is another. You have to remember, there are children watching you, and children are like parrots. They mimic everything they see and hear. I don't think there is anything wrong with subtle PDA, but save the drastic stuff for the bedroom. (Or at least behind a bush!)

BDS said 2:47PM on 7-31-2007

yeah, well, I guess that it should be perfectly legal to watch someone walk up to someone and punch 'em in the mouth a few times...that kind of behavior won't offend anyonea and as usual, folks will just walk right past. KISSING IN PUBLIC? WHO is this hurting? A little more love and affection in this world does no more than make us happier and lightens our lives. Look like someone needs an enema in Beijing...
that is, of course, as long as NO ONE'S WATCHING...

Chris said 5:45PM on 7-31-2007

Does anyone even read the articles anymore? This was IN CHINA, people. Not here, not to mention the cameras were ACCIDENTALLY catching these PDA events. Even if the Communist government's intentions were more sinister than catching violent robberies and attacks, the article was not worded that way. Has basic reading comprehension levels dropped so low in this country that very few people understand a miniscule internet blurb or are we choosing just to ignore information and make our own assumptions.

Jim said 3:11PM on 7-31-2007

Click .. your on the air. Its very interesting how we relate to one another. Friends, family, those at work .. some we like a little, some a lot, and some .. well ... at any rate to remember exactly what we are, because we are NOT bodies .. simply click on www.jesusmeetsthepress.com and move ahead in time some 50 years .. all are welcome and we won't take your picture.

kevin said 3:22PM on 7-31-2007

hey, i do it wit my girlfriend all the time...

kdm98 said 3:44PM on 7-31-2007

There are times for some PDA, but the one I hate is when I'm standing in line for a ride at Busch Gardens or Kings Dominion and the couple in front of me spend 45 minutes hugging, kissing, feeling each other up. Hey...make out for 30 seconds and then build a real relationship by communicating. Don't slobber in front of me the entire time!

gmcreyn1 said 4:07PM on 7-31-2007

Just another service brought to you by big brother. And don't forget that it is being justified by the anti-terrorist hunting group. Aren't you glad you now know they they are hiding thier bombs under thier girlfriends skirts? Makes me wonder what OUR police are going to be watching on all those cameras they are putting up.

Janelle said 4:09PM on 7-31-2007

If I want to watch people going at it, which I don't, I'll rent a porn flick. However, it's not a crime it's just rude. I always wish I had a hose to turn on them just as I would with a couple of dogs engaging in a similar activity.

gmcreyn1 said 7:39PM on 7-31-2007

Anyone that believes that the pictures taken are not being saved somewhere has their head in the sand. Sorry folks, just look at the related links section above. Draw your own conclusions about the ones we don't know about. It was no accident that the Brits could pull up all that footage days after the incident.

Big Al said 5:05PM on 7-31-2007

JChili the word for you is Facist....look it up.

bulldozer said 5:15PM on 7-31-2007

The Chinese can deny it all they want, but like it or not they're still a communist country & nobody has rights when big brother's watching! It'll happen in the US next - mark my words!

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