In an industry constantly facing threats of cheats, theft and fraud, from customers and employees, security cameras are an essential element of a successful casino or other gaming operation.

Thanks to surveillance cameras at  Nordstrom department stores in the Portland, OR area, police and FBI agents have identified Jamie Lynn Bacon, of Beaverton, OR, as the thief who has defrauded Nordstrom of nearly $10,000 since fall 2006.

Booming economies in China and India, along with record amounts of construction in the US and the rest of the western world, have created an extremely high demand for raw construction metals like copper and steel. Contractors and electricians complain about the soaring costs of metal as thieves ransack incomplete buildings, stripping copper wire and pipes to sell for scrap. Scrap metal thieves have become so brazen as to risk their lives - one man recently died trying to strip live electrical wire from a transformer.

Fifty nine video surveillance cameras currently watch over the Guadalupe county jail, and officials want more. Concerned with drug trafficking and prisoner safety, Sheriff Arnold Zwicke is requesting the replacement of 15 current cameras and the addition of 45 more, bringing the total to 104.

In New York City, a trio of thieves has been pilfering local Duane Reade pharmacy outlets on a consistent basis since mid-January. The spree intensified last week when the burglars upped their workload to two heists per day, reeling in tens of thousands of dollars along the way. What the thieves didn't know was that security officials had been methodically planning their capture. On Monday, Feb. 26, that plan came to fruition. 140 plainclothes officers were staked throughout Manhattan's 47 Duane Reade stores. Officers in a central observation room then monitored video surveillance footage fed from each store's security camera system.

In Bellingham, WA, a newspaper reader helped police track down a Bank of America robbery suspect. Video surveillance of the robbery produced a clean image of the suspect, which was then released by police to the media and published in the Feb. 27 edition of The Bellingham Herald. A Herald reader recognized the man in the surveillance video image and phoned the authorities with his identity.

Covenant Medical Center's advanced security system is regarded as one of the reasons why 5 day old Mychael Dawodu is safe with her parents.

The town of Kazan, like many other cities in Russia, has been an seat of trade, government and culture for hundreds of years. However, with modern crises like a dense-evergrowing population, street crime, vandalism and a steady traffic flow, maintaining security has proven to be a bit of a challenge.

After the surprising and tragic slaying of Pakistani national cricket coach Bob Woolmer at the world championships in Jamaica, authorities have revealed that they have identified a suspect in the case thanks to digitally enhanced surveillance footage.

For most arsons, the thrill of watching their tinder burn is what keeps them coming back for more. However, after setting a dumpster full of donated clothes and toys on fire, Macomb, IL arson Walter Neill has probably seen his last blaze.

Police in Brooklyn, NY have used a surveillance system once used by criminals to track activities around their hideout to incriminate a drunk driver responsible for a tragic accident on Monday.

Six men described as "Islamic radicals" were arrested Tuesday morning, accused of plotting to enter a military base and murder "as many soldiers as possible." The men, described as nationals of the former nation of Yugoslavia, were incriminated thanks to video footage taken of a planning meeting.

Surveillance cameras are playing a key role in the investigation of a hit and run accident that resulted in the death of 17-year-old Tiffany Bottenfield in Welland, Ontario. The incident took place at the intersection of Rosewood and Aqueduct, near the Seaway Mall. A mall supervisor assisted the Niagara Regional Police in scouring through footage from the mall's 33 security cameras searching for the suspects based solely on their physical description.

Eighteen year old Kelsey Smith has been missing since the evening of Saturday, June 2. Overland Park, KS law enforcement have used the traditional methods of looking for a missing person - canvassing, search parties, and offering rewards. But this time, feed from a surveillance camera inside a Target store may help find Kelsey quicker than before.

Surveillance video from a Clearwater, FL security camera could be the turning point in an investigation into a near-fatal accident involving Nick Bollea (son of wrestling legend Hulk Hogan).

It's more than common - graffiti, street art, vandalism, tagging...Whatever word you choose to assign to it, it's pervasive. Police and law enforcement around the world have been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with graffiti artists for years, only able to follow clues and witness accounts to prosecute street artists - who often slink and spray under the cover of darkness.

Vending machine designers have struggled for years to stay one step ahead of would-be snack food cons; adding features that make pilfering candy and sodas difficult and not worth it for the petty thief. A string of vending machine break-ins and thefts in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania has prompted major action from Coca Cola - who's pulling out all the stops to find two men suspected of major vending machine theft.

Drusillas Park, a 15 acre small-animals zoo in the UK, recently added a series of Optex IP cameras to protect its animal tenants, which include meerkats, owls, gibbons, otters, and attractions like a Thomas the Tank Engine train ride.

In the small town of Sergnano, Italy, which employs just two police offers to protect 3,000 inhabitants, an IP camera system has been deterring and catching criminals-- particularly vandals-- so successfully that the system paid for itself within a year of its implementation. The system covers an area of thirteen square kilometers, which made traditional analog CCTV impossibly expensive. Instead, IndigoVision, the company that installed the system, came up with a combined wired and wireless network for the cameras, facilitating cost-effective IP surveillance of remote areas.

The shock of a recent double homicide on the Louisiana State University campus has had the school's security forces scrambling to find new ways to keep Tiger students safe in their studies.

In an effort to further reduce crime in the city of Tayside, the Scottish city has decided to outfit its police force with a tiny video surveillance camera mounted directly onto the uniform starting next June. Tayside has been at the forefront of surveillance technology before - it was the first Scottish town to add security cameras to patrol bikes in 2006.

It all started in December - random gun shots fired around the Gable Oaks neighborhood (in Columbia, SC) entered an apartment building and killed a 32-year old woman in her sleep. Shootings have continued - some bullets penetrating the walls of more residences, leaving residents petrified of leaving the inner sanctums of their homes - let alone going outside. City council members and the Gable Oaks tenant association believe the situation is at its boiling point, and have proposed the installation of several neighborhood security cameras to help combat the shots.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors gave preliminary approval to a citywide measure that would allow defendants in criminal cases to use recordings from the city's surveillance cameras to prove their innocence. The measure passed by a vote of 7 to 2, and it will require the city to hold on to the footage from 74 cameras for at least 30 days. However, city officials say that this is not possible with the city's existing equipment.

Teddy the Pomeranian has been missing for over two months and his owner has been looking for him ever since. She came so close to be reuniting with Teddy - until he was dognapped. A surveillance camera stationed in the examining room of a veterinarian's office captured the whole affair.

Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are turning to video surveillance systems in police cars for increased security. The market for mobile video surveillance equipment for patrol cars is forecasted to grow at an average of 6.5 percent per year according to new reports. Already, over 40 percent of the 450,000 police cars in the U.S. already have digital video surveillance.

The River Vale Police Department in New Jersey recently installed a digital surveillance solution from JVC Professional Products. The new IP surveillance system replaces an outdated analog system with a mix of indoor and outdoor cameras watching over any areas at the police station where officers and visitors are including entrances, the dispatch center, the jail, and the parking lot.

The city of Gilroy, California recently invested in a security camera system that they’re hoping will not only deter crime, but encourage shoppers and tourists to visit the new downtown by dispelling the impression that the city is too dangerous or dingy to visit. City officials and businesses are hoping the cameras show the city cares about downtown and the visitors’ safety.

With cattle selling at around $1,000 each and bulls selling for $1,500 to $2,000, cattle thieves have a clear-cut motive for raiding ranches and farms, and stealing as many cattle as they can get their hands on. Just one job can easily turn into a $20,000 cattle heist. In 2010 and 2011, Texas and the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) claimed losses of $4.8 million in stolen ranch property, including bulls, steers, cows, and calves. Cattle theft is becoming more commonplace in states that boast lucrative agricultural markets. The increase in beef prices and appeal of selling cattle at a hefty profit has been enough to pique the interest of cunning thieves who are well aware that multi-acre ranches aren’t usually protected by sophisticated – or any – video surveillance systems.

A new study conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago suggested that Chicago law enforcement surveillance cameras work better at reducing crime when clustered in high-crime areas versus spread across an entire city.