# Is it possible to commit this type of crime and not get caught with today's tech?



## ironpony (May 16, 2016)

For my story, I wanted the villains to commit a series of kidnappings, but with today's super advanced police technology, it seems impossible to write such a story. If the villains drive a vehicle to the kidnapping point and back, the vehicle can easily be spotted as a vehicle used for criminal activity.


Police cars nowadays have computers tech on them that photograph plates all over the streets, and if the plate is a phony plate, since the vehicle is not mean to be identified, then the police have already spotted the vehicle. Or if the vehicle was stolen, the computer can identify those plates too, just by taking pictures randomly, from car to car, or so I was told by a cop.


There are also so many traffic cams compared to before, nowadays.


The last story I recall that had a crime that required an untraceable vehicle was the movie The Town (2010). But it seems in my research, a lot has changed since then.


Is it possible for criminals to get away with such crimes nowadays, especially if they plan on doing it a few times? Or do all kidnappings in a modern city, have to be done without cars now, to prevent the police from spotting anything illegal, while on the way to the location?


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## sigmadog (May 16, 2016)

Damn Law Enforcement! They make a writer's job so hard these days!

I've never thought about that aspect, but yeah, with modern surveillance tech, getting away with it is very problematic. If you're setting it in the big city, you'll need to come up with a workaround or clever means the criminals will use to spoof or hide from these technologies. Think of the movie "The Italian Job" (the recent one) how the Seth Green character hacked the traffic system. If you think about it, that didn't make much sense, but they sold it well in the movie, thus giving us viewers a thin reason to suspend our disbelief. That's all you need to give the audience, because they WANT to roll with your story, all they need is a reason, however lame. 

That's my completely unprofessional opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it.


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## afk4life (May 17, 2016)

Well, you could always use that to your advantage. You could have pre-technology master criminals joining up with modern ones, you could have the sons/daughters of the pre-tech criminals trying to replay parents greatest hits. The tech works against reality but also provides great opportunity for introducing a much more tense/paranoid plot where things go wrong. Look at the shows Mr. Robot and Person of Interest, for example. You just have to be imaginative and avoid falling into the typical TV mastermind-criminal-of-ridiculous-proportions. Instead of focusing on why it can't work, focus on why it can. Your own premise is a bit flawed, because look just last year a month ago there was the London Diamond Heist. Look at how many failures of intelligence have allowed attacks everywhere despite mass surveillance. The technology can't be perfect by design, because it is built by and relies on humans, and humans are not very good at, to paraphrase Person of Interest, sorting out relevant from irrelevant. It's not that different than a lot of alien invasion movies where they use our technology against us, and in some of the good ones, that's almost making a much larger statement than criminals getting away with things.


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## ironpony (May 17, 2016)

Well I am coming up with ideas. How often to the employees of these business establishments watch their cameras?  Would a camera in a mall parking garage for example be watched almost all the time by security?


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## Bishop (May 17, 2016)

The registration of the vehicle can be faked, and as long as it comes up green in the computer, the police will have nothing. While still leaving many unanswered questions, in this case, that's enough to suspend reader disbelief.


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## Sleepwriter (May 17, 2016)

Cameras are really only good if the are recording. Saying that, pretty much every bank robber has been caught, maybe because of video footage.


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## patskywriter (May 17, 2016)

In a couple of cities, authorities admitted that many of their cities’ cameras weren't operational because they were trying to save money. They simply hoped that the presence of the cameras would cause people to behave. Many your characters have the inside scoop and know that certain parts of their town have these “dummy” cameras.


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## K.S. Crooks (May 27, 2016)

Once out of a city the number of cameras of any sort greatly decreases. Many cameras have a very short range and limited resolution. The cover of night can help obscure information, the people can cover their plate and car markings for the crime and tinted windows. Use a stolen car which if identified does nothing to help identify the kidnappers. Switch cars outside of the city or on a random side street which won't have cameras. What you need to do is have the kidnappings take place in locations where video surveillance is uncommon (side streets, parks, bus stops, etc.). Hope this helps.


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