Clerk's Shooting Brings Attention To Surveillance Cameras

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The search continues for the man who robbed a Marathon gas station and killed the clerk on duty.

Surveillance footage released by police Wednesday captured the moments leading up to the shooting of 48-year-old Daniolo Perez.

The suspect is described as being 6 feet tall, weighing between 150 and 160 pounds with a dark complexion. He was dressed in all dark clothing and a black hoodie.

Anyone with information is asked to call police, but officials said the video footage isn't clear enough for investigators to clearly identify the suspect, NBC 4's Patrick Preston reported.

Police and security experts said the quality and strategic placement of video cameras in stores is critical to the safety of store employees, deterring crime and catching criminals.

Columbus police Sgt. Shaun Laird, of the division's robbery squad said there's a two-prong test to determine if security cameras are effective:

Are they positioned to the place where a robber would most likely stand?
Is the camera focused in to be able to clearly recognize the robber's face?

Police said the cameras inside the Marathon gas stations may have been positioned far back from where a would-be robber would stand in order to watch employees or potential shoplifters. As a result, the image of the shooter in the recent shooting is difficult to identify.

"A poor image quality -- all you have is a historical record of a tragedy and nothing that the police can work with or anyone else to solve the crime," said Doug Dean of Belay Investigations.

Dean, a security consultant, said his rule of thumb is that a person's face must be larger than a thumb when viewed on video. With cameras priced significantly lower than in years past, businesses can't have too many to cover all the angles.

"There is a responsibility. OSHA, Occupations Safety and Health Administration, in their general duty clause -- they say employers are responsible to provide a safe environment for their employees and their customers," Dean said.

Accupro Audio Visual General Manager Dan Anderson said the security cameras his company carries run from $79 to $800. Having something is better than nothing, but Anderson cautions that you get what you pay for.

"If you can't ID somebody, your system isn't up to par and that's the bottom line. If you can't make a good identification on somebody, it's not working properly," Anderson said.

NBC 4 attempted to reach the owners of the Marathon gas station where Perez was shot. Employees at the store said they were busy and they did not respond to requests to talk.

Police said they hope Wednesday's shooting sparks other business owners to make sure their surveillance equipment is well positioned and of high quality.

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