Videotaping diners? Call me a bit naive or behind the times, but that part

[niyad]

of garden gnome's (thank you, Keith Olbermann) supposed "purse snatching" gave me the creeps, apart from calling BS on it as currently presented. Is this common in restaurants there? I have not encountered it in any restaurants around here, and would not go to one that did. Perhaps others see it differently, but I find the idea just creepy. s "dine and dash" that much of a problem there?

[Walleye]

1. I think we are on video wherever we go now. The night has 1000 eyes.

[niyad]

2. And now I have an earworm!

[Walleye]

3. Oh, it's in my ear too, happy to share it with you

[BoRaGard]

5. So remember when you (R) tell those little white lies

?si=9bnMIw3mMT3G0p81

[niyad]

7. Thank you. Just watched a clip of him singing that on a beach set.

[elocs]

10. Outside of your own home, there is no place safe to scratch when you need to.

With cameras, it's like Chicken Man: They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

[mdbl]

11. Now you're just showing our age

[Marthe48]

15. My folks had a sign

Home Sweet Home
Where you can scratch where it itches.

[CrispyQ]

29. If Ring wasn't enough, there are bird feeders that hang in a tree with cameras in them. -nt

[LudwigPastorius]

46. Oh yeah.

[markodochartaigh]

4. I think that most restaurants with cameras

would have them well-hidden. Apparently about 75% of restaurants have cameras. Who knows if they are monitored all the time or even if they are ever reviewed.


https://envysion.com/envysion/restaurant-video-surveillance-best-locations/

[niyad]

6. Thank you for that rather appalling link. Big brother is watching, indeed.

[druidity33]

8. Meh...

I work in a restaurant. We have cameras facing the registers and the bathroom doors. For... reasons. We never look at them unless someone has tried to rob the place or attacked someone in the bathroom. Both of which have happened and we have been thankful we had the video footage.

[Old Crank]

14. Many places with cameras don't review the bittage

unless something happens. It gets to be expensive to store all the video. So if something happens the police need to get the video reasonably quick or it gets overwritten.

[AKwannabe]

28. I work at a restaurant

There are at least 4-6 maybe more.
They watch the employees more than anything. Can come in handy if there is an altercation/robbery etc for police.
One is for our small parking lot. Break ins and such…

But more than anything, they are a theft deterrent for employees…

[Polybius]

34. Nope

Worked in at least 6 from the late 90's well into the 2000's. They were all in plain view.

[HeartsCanHope]

9. While it seems intrusive, it also protects the wait staff.

Last edited Wed Apr 23, 2025, 08:43 AM - Edit history (3)

I remember a man that groped a young lady. She stopped him and held him until the police got there. It could have been an instance of she said/he said, but the video evidence convicted him of sexual battery. www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/Watch-this-waitress-take-down-a-Florida-man-who-groped-her-as-she-worked_170178620/
It is sad that this is necessary, but I would rather that the wait staff, and anyone else for that matter, be protected from crimes.

[Prairie Gates]

13. "patted a young lady on her rear end."

Don't give them their language. He sexually assaulted a woman in public.

[John1956PA]

12. The Secret Service reviewed the video. A red flag right there.

I do not think the Capital Police have yet to comment on the crime. Only the Secret Service has stated what transpired. According to the Secret Service, the thief took a seat at a table near Noem's. The thief had his back to Noem. He used his left foot to slide the purse toward him. He covered it with his jacket and fled, wearing a surgical face covering. It does sound fishy. Here is a photo of what I believe is the interior of the crime location, The Capital Burgers.

[FSogol]

16. How many meals can you buy there for $3000?

[Meowmee]

18. There was a similar robbery in another restaurant near there

Similar purse-snatching happened blocks away in Washington days before Kristi Noem’s bag was taken


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kristi-noem-purse-rcna202492

[John1956PA]

19. Thanks for the info. It seems to be the work of a serial purse thief.

How awful. I hope the perp is caught. However, his wearing of the N95 mask will make an identification difficult.

In the Noem case, I am thinking that it must have occurred during an interval when customers were permitted to seat themselves. The thief might have pulled off the theft before a sever approached him at his table. If he was wearing the N95 mask while seated alone at the table, that should have raised a warning flag to any restaurant personnel who might have noticed it, and surely to the two Secret Service agents seated at the bar whose job it was to keep their eyes on Noem. I do not care for Noem, but I do have empathy for her as the victim of a crime.

[Meowmee]

21. Yes probably a serial purse snatcher etc.

Last edited Wed Apr 23, 2025, 11:41 PM - Edit history (1)

I have 0 empathy for her, I have empathy for her puppy who she murdered, and for others she is hurting with her fascism and violence etc.

I don't think the mask alone is enough to raise suspicion. I still mask everywhere. I don't go to restaurants anymore and haven't really for the most part long before the pandemic. But it would be pointless to mask in a restaurant if you are going remove it to eat. However you could do so to pick up food I guess. I think they have a video but haven't released it for whatever reasons.

* adding this- I have read articles about people in restaurants/ places where they were masked and then removed it to eat, so yes some people do that, as silly as it seems. Someone recently told me he did that during the pandemic. Long story 😹

[Irish_Dem]

24. I wear masks too but don't wear them into a restaurant.

You have to take off the mask to eat anyway.

[Meowmee]

40. Yes then there is no purpose to masking because you can be infected in the restaurant

Not sure why anybody would do that really unless you don’t really worry about it. Or you only wear it when you’re going somewhere highly likely to be infected and you know that. A restaurant though is a place where you are highly likely to be infected. If you take your mask off anywhere, you’re at risk.

Anyway, someone could go into a restaurant and wait with a mask on if they were going to pick up food to take out. I’m sure though he was just there to rob people.

[Irish_Dem]

54. And if you are just going to pick up take out, why sit at a dining table?

Yes I think it is clear he was there to case the joint, identify a flashy rich lady, and steal her purse.

Unless he had targeted Noem specifically.

[Meowmee]

55. I don't know, people do things we would not expect all the time

One reason could be that the food was not ready- someone might sit down to wait etc. I am not saying he did that, I am giving an explanation for why someone might do that and why wearing a mask in that specific situation would not automatically be a red flag.

I am sure he was there to rob someone. The fact that the other woman was robbed in a similar fashion and that she is not political, according to her, and not an obvious political target suggests to me that KN was not a specific target. But you never know.

* I added to an earlier post that some people do go into a restaurant masked and then remove it to eat as well.

[Irish_Dem]

56. Most restaurants have a waiting area for take out orders or people stand and wait.

Most restaurants don't let people sit at tables if they are not going to eat in the restaurant.
Unless the place was not crowded, or the guy just sat himself at the table.

Yes I understand we are just trying to figure out what might have happened.
Solving a crime involves this kind of speculation, figuring out what the suspect
was doing as the crime plays out.

I have not read much about the other woman he robbed. So this same guy robbed
another woman at the same restaurant? If this is the case, yes it looks more like
an ordinary robbery and not targeted against Noem.

Yes I agree, some people go into a restaurant masked and then take it off to eat.
That is a possibility.

[Meowmee]

57. I posted a link to the article- it was in another restaurant in the area

I think she did not want to be identified but spoke to police etc. If the restaurant was busy maybe no one would notice and someone could sit down etc. I don't know this restaurant or what they do there, it's a burger place so I assumed it would be less formal, but maybe not. If so, someone seated him and will maybe be able to id him.

Quote from the article linked above: it was in a hotel, maybe in a restaurant there...

"WASHINGTON — Three days before Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's handbag was stolen while she dined out at a Washington restaurant, another woman eating with her own family at a nearby eatery had her purse taken in a similar manner, records show.

NBC News discovered the similarities in the two incidents after it requested reports of thefts in the neighborhood from Washington police.

It’s not clear whether the two incidents are connected, but the victim in the first purse snatching believes they are.

“I’m shocked at the similarity of the crime,” she told NBC News when she described how her purse was stolen Thursday at a restaurant in the downtown Westin Hotel."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kristi-noem-purse-rcna202492

If you read the article there are a lot more details.. it happened while she was eating with her family... he dumped some of her items including her health ins card in another place nearby and they called her.

[Irish_Dem]

58. Thanks

I was assuming it is a higher end restaurant, but could be wrong of course.

But Kristi doesn't seem like the type to eat at a lower end hamburger joint.
But yes if it was a hamburger place and not crowded, someone there for take out
could sit at a regular table.

However if this is the case it doesn't make sense. A robber going for expensive purses
and flashy rich ladies is not going to hit the cheap hamburger joints. If you are stealing
random purses at a hamburger place, you will most likely not get any cash, and a purse
which costs less than $100.

The robber stole a $5000 Gucci purse which he can turn around and re-sell quickly.
Maybe he saw Noem flashing around cash too.

[Meowmee]

59. Yes it may be a high priced fancy burger place

He could have been following her too and saw her purse etc.

I was robbed/purse snatched once in a parking lot, I knew something was off. Police told me they would do nothing unless they caught him with my stuff etc. Later I went around to tell the stores there, with flyers etc., to tell them to warn people. A security personnel in one told me there had been several purse snatchings in that shopping center and the FBI was investigating it. I wonder why the FBI would investigate that though.

I was not carrying a big bucks purse and have never owned one etc.

[Irish_Dem]

62. I live in the midwest and we don't have high end burger places, but maybe they do in DC.

Lots of billionaire and lobbyist money floating around

So maybe there are Gucci purses in those hamburger restaurants.

Sorry to hear about the robbery, that must have been frightening.
Your robber was a different kind of robber, he was not going for expensive purses.

The FBI would investigate robberies if there are federal laws involved or if across state lines.
Or police keep asking for help.

So if the robbers were doing bank fraud with the stolen credit cards, or part of drug trafficking,
or coming the crimes across multiple jurisdictions, the FBI would get involved.

[Jose Garcia]

25. Capitol Police wouldn't have jurisdiction

It didn't happen on or near the Capitol grounds, nor did it involve a member of Congress.

[John1956PA]

32. Thanks for correcting. I was using "Capital" (with the "a") to denote the D.C. police dept., but that was confusing.

From Wikipedia, have learned the name of the D.C. police department is as follows:

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbia, in the United States.

[SheltieLover]

26. Why haven't they released the footage? I'm calling bs in her & SS!

[John1956PA]

53. Hi, Shelti. Yours is a good question. Let's see the video.

However, I suppose there are some privacy considerations involved. Innocent bydiners do not deserve to have their images splashed all over the web. However, a zoomed in image of the thief making off with the purse would serve to foster confidence in the line which has been fed to us.

[SheltieLover]

60. Privacy? Wtf is that? They collect & sell every shred they can steal.

I would agree with you if other news stories didn't include innocent prople's images.

[summer_in_TX]

51. Ages ago, my mom had her purse stolen at a D.C. restaurant just the same way.

In her case tablecloths helped the thief keep anyone from seeing him do it. Police told her it happened that way quite often.

[multigraincracker]

17. When I was young I was against any cameras keeping track of everything.

Now they seem more like a good idea. Thinking about getting a dash cam now.
CCTV and phone cameras have made police more honest.

[Maru Kitteh]

20. You should assume you're being videoed everywhere you go in public because

more often than not, you probably are. Look carefully. They’ve been there for quite a while now. If we’ve got them everywhere up here in podunk Montana, you can be certain you have them too.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. "I have not encountered it in any restaurants around here,"

No offense, but you definitely have.

[niyad]

36. I will take your statement as it was intended. You have no information

on any restaurants with which I am familiar, but do keep trying.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

39. I mean, you said right in the OP "call me naive or behind the times..."

You have no information on any restaurants with which I am familiar, but do keep trying.

I'm not trying to do anything? If you're out and about, it's a pretty good bet you're being recorded at some point; that's the unfortunate reality, and it's good to be aware of it. Restaurants have cameras to protect against/record theft from employees or patrons, record evidence against allegations from patrons, and record any property crimes committed, depending on where the restaurant is and if it, say, touts itself as a haven for marginalized populations.

[niyad]

45. Do keep trying. I need all the amusement I can get these days.

[GreatGazoo]

23. People sue restaurants all the time

Chipped teeth, scaldings, "found something in the food", slip-and-falls, etc so it may be a defense practice or even an insurance requirement.

There are high end restaurants in NYC and elsewhere that have a camera with no mic looking down on each table so that they can time the delivery of the next course of the meal. Eg the kitchen can see how near completion you are without service staff hovering.

[niyad]

38. I can understand why they have the cameras, but it is not something

with which I am comfortable, for a number of reasons.

[SheltieLover]

27. Here only doors & cash registers have cameras

And, even when perps are identified, arrested, tried & convicted, they let them right back out on the street.

[niyad]

37. Reminds me of the casinos years ago.It was endlessly fascinating.

[SheltieLover]

41. This place is more like living in interesting times

[niyad]

43. Exactly!

[SheltieLover]

50. :-/

[CrispyQ]

30. The only part of the story I don't believe is the contents of her purse.

$3K? Okay, maybe, but no gun? As if. Is carrying legal where this happened?

Restaurant purse snatching is very real & they are very devious. A friend came up with a sort of clip or vice that you hook your purse straps through & then secure to the table. It has a bluetooth locking device that you access via an app. I'm not sure if she got it in production but someone must have something out there like it.

[rubbersole]

31. If I owned a restaurant (or any business that served the public)...

..I'd have cameras for liability protection. TV commercials constantly have personal injury attorneys claiming massive settlements as if that's an easy way to make millions. What is never explained is the tragedy surrounding those settlements. Just sayin'.

[Polybius]

33. Are you asking if restaurants have security cameras?

I worked in several from the late 90's into the 2000's (including diners). Every one of them had security cameras.

[niyad]

35. I very clearly asked if it was common there, slight difference. It is not

common here, at least in the public dining areas of the restaurants with which I am familiar. I would not presume to speak to what occurs back of house.

[Polybius]

42. Perhaps a location thing

Ironically, I'm at a restaurant right now as I type this. There's a camera right near the host stand. They are literally in every business here in NYC.

[niyad]

44. Quite possibly. I live in a slightly bluer area of fundieville, which John Sayles

once rcalled "the heart of darkness", and I call "a cultural backwater".

[ecstatic]

47. I smell a rat

Who carries $3,000 cash to a restaurant while dining with secret service? Hell, in this day and age, any cash is going to be accidentally lost, or stolen or spent (and it's a lot harder to keep track of whether it was stolen or spent). That said, I did take out $60 for tips the other day... I think (see, I already forgot how much).

Did SS interrupt a scheme she had planned? Was she bribing someone? Paying blackmail money? Paying for prostitutes? Kidnapping ransom? Murder plot?

Or is this another version of signalgate? They don't want people seeing their correspondences and now they don't want people seeing who they're paying?

[niyad]

48. That whole story, whichever version they try, stinks like week-old dead fish.

At this point, I would not even believe a video. . they have had more than enough time to create or manipulate one.

[Buns_of_Fire]

49. "All the world's a stage." -Shakespeare

More so now than ever.

[Skittles]

52. I'm guessing you don't live in a metroplex?

SOP where I live

[niyad]

61. No, I don't. And, to be fair, I tend to stay with dining establishments I have

been going to for many years, small family operations. Just my preference.

[Skittles]

63. not all surveillance devices can be seen

just so you know