DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Sex offending suspects in Switzerland will have their pixelated photos published… And then unpixelated…

Sep 20, 2015 by Liron Samuels 9 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Swiss_Suspect

Source: Zurich Police Spokesperson

Swiss police came up with a new, and highly controversial, plan to get suspects to turn themselves in.

According to Ha’aretz newspaper, the police will release a pixelated photo of suspects to the media, along with a message warning that unless they turn themselves in within a week, unpixelated photos will be published and the public will be asked to identify them.

As you can imagine, the new policy is said to cause quite a stir among politicians and lawyers.

Ha’aretz reports that the Zurich police has decided to implement the new protocol against suspected sex offenders after a similar protocol showed a 75% success rate when it came to capturing hooligans at soccer stadiums.

The first step of the protocol is to identify the suspect on the high quality security cameras. Next, assuming that only the suspect will identify himself, the police will release a pixelated photo to the media along with the suspicions against him and a strict warning – ‘you’ve got one week to turn yourself in – otherwise we will publish the original photo and ask the public to identify you’.

Not messing around, if the suspect doesn’t report to a police station within the given timeframe, the police will follow through on its threat and circulate the unpixelated photos to the media.

The newspaper mentions that the policy’s intention is to walk the fine line between having to apprehend criminals and maintaining the famous Swiss privacy standards.

The first case in which the new policy was implemented in regards to a suspected sex offender is said to be of a rape that took place in March.

Approximately two weeks ago the Zurich police spokesperson released to the media the pixelated photo seen above, together with the aforementioned warning.

Along with the photo and the warning, police added that last March the suspect allegedly followed the 26-year-old victim on a train in one of Zurich’s suburbs to a bathroom in the last passenger car. He then locked the door and raped her, before escaping the train at one of the next stops.

It is not known whether the suspect saw the photo or not, but either way he failed to meet the deadline and the police released the photo below.

Swiss_Suspect1

Source: Zurich Police Spokesperson

Despite the photo being heavily covered by old-school media and receiving lots of attention on social media, the suspect has not yet been captured, reported Ha’aretz.

That being said, the policy has evoked a heated debate between the legal community and politicians as to possible repercussions, with the newspaper mentioning that three problematic aspects are especially worrying some of the parties involved.

The first claim is that police should not publish a photo of someone who is suspected of committing a serious crime before he has appeared in front of a judge; the second is that any mistake on the police’s end could lead to irreversible consequences, and the third is about how the online community will use this information.

Knowing that once something is online it can never be removed, some naysayers fear that the “internet police” might prevent innocent, and especially convicted, suspects from ever returning to any kind of a normal life again.

It is important to mention that threatening to publish photos of suspects is only done as a last resort, after other options have been exhausted.

As far as I know, the case mentioned above was the only one of its kind thus far, but I expect more to follow unless the police are forced to stop using this tactic.

[via Ha’aretz]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Neural network turns your Pixelated, black and white gameboy photos into realistic portraits Video evidence surfaces against two suspects arrested in fatal shooting of California photographer Two suspects involved in a high-speed pursuit with LAPD stop and pose for selfies before cops show up This AI turns pixelated faces into real portraits, but not without hiccups

Filed Under: news Tagged With: law enforcement, legal, Pixelated, police, privacy, Switzerland, Zurich

Liron Samuels: from diyphotography.net

About Liron Samuels

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.

You can see more of his work on his website or follow him on Facebook.

« Monster 200mm f/1.0 lens listed on eBay for $387,000
Behind the scenes: photographing the Emmy’s »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Photographer shares the story behind the iconic Columbia Pictures logo
  • Nikon releases super fast NIKKOR Z DX 24mm f/1.7 lens for their mirrorless lineup
  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy