Poll: Americans OK with surveillance cams

NEW YORK, July 29 (UPI) -- Americans decisively favor increased use of surveillance cameras in public places, an ABC News poll found.

Seventy-one percent of those surveyed said they support increasing use of cameras to fight crime, while 25 percent said they oppose it, ABC reported Sunday.

An extensive surveillance network in London, known as the "Ring of Steel," has been credited with helping in the capture of suspects -- including those charged in attempted car bombings in June.

New York has plans to install 100 new cameras in Manhattan this year, and 3,000 by 2010. Chicago and Baltimore also plan to expand their surveillance systems.

Civil liberties critics -- including the American Civil Liberties Union -- say such public surveillance invades privacy, and could be used to keep track of innocent people.

Seniors are more likely than those under 20 to support expanded use of surveillance cameras, and Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor it. Women, better educated people and whites are more likely to support it than men, the less educated and African-Americans, ABC said.

The poll, conducted July 18-21, surveyed 1,125 adults and has a margin of error of three percent.