March 12, 2007
Surveillance video helps to uncover a career's worth of theft
Video surveillance has often proved to be an effective tool in both preventing and uncovering acts of employee theft, but what about retiree theft? Look no further than a recent case involving one Robert Gibson, a retired transit electrician for the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority).
Gibson, who's suspected of stealing $40,000 in transit coins and tokens, has been charged with larceny by scheme.
His crime -- 20 years in the making -- was foiled when he appeared in MBTA surveillance footage, suspiciously depositing upwards of $3,500 in tokens into fare vending machines which transferred their worth onto 45 CharlieCards. (CharlieCards replaced MBTA tokens last year, and can hold a value up to $100.) An image from security cameras at Wellington station provided a clear shot of Gibson after he loaded stolen tokens into a CharlieCard machine. MBTA authorities were able to quickly identify the 69-year-old retiree who was recently one of their own.
Gibson's plot was methodical. Over the course of 20 years, he slowly stole from the transit authority for which he worked, taking a quarter or a token at a time from the fare collection boxes he repaired for a living.
But when the system switched from tokens to CharlieCards, Gibson was forced to spend some serious time at the fare collecting machine to make his stash worth something. And with video surveillance closely monitoring such machines, his suspicious actions were captured on camera. After Gibson confessed to the crime, police found over $40,000 in coins and tokens in his basement.
This case offers an example of the effectiveness of video surveillance in public transit areas. Besides providing increased safety for passengers and transit equipment, surveillance helps to bust those who try to beat the system, be they outsiders, employees, or retirees.
Posted by Dan on March 12, 2007 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
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