A gang who used Google Street View to scout properties to burgle have been apprehended after police located them on Google Street View.Google Street View was launched in May 2007 to allow internet users to look at a satellite image of their house and some of their friends' houses before becoming bored.
The noble intentions of the site have been jeopardised by recent reports of thieves using the service to size up potential break-ins, but now it seems that Street View can be a force for good.
West Yorkshire police today reported that a gang that used Google Street View to plan a robbery of a property in Bradford have been caught thanks to images of them using Google Street View to plan the robbery.
"It's a landmark day in policing," West Yorkshire police chief Sir Norman Bettison told Extra Nonsense.
"We had heard rumours that a group was targeting vulnerable properties using Google Street View, so we had a little look around and found five men huddled around a computer on Naysmith Road.
"Looking a little closer we could see that they were looking at Street View and had a piece of paper in front of them with 'Houses to Rob' written on it. Five weeks later we decided to act and now the men are in custody."
Google have made it clear that homeowners can have their property blurred on Street View. However, they have been keen to stress that neither Street View nor the upcoming Unlocked Back Door Locator service poses a security risk to the public.
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