There ought to be an ordinance  El Cerrito PD works to obtain
usable video evidence from businesses     Catching a criminal on
video can really help an investigation, but poor quality
technology can produce a video that's more frustrating than
useful.     In January 2005, a convenience store employee was
shot and killed during a robbery in El Cerrito, Calif. Police
were able to retrieve a video recording of the murder, but the
recording did not help identify the shooter. This made the case
doubly tragic, says El Cerrito Chief Scott Kirkland, who
recently retired as the El Cerrito chief and is serving as chief
in a contract position until the city hires a new chief.
   "You can see that a robbery occurred, you can see that a
person was shot, but because of the poor quality video, we can't
make out who the shooter was," he says.     That bothered the
31-year law enforcement veteran immensely. Poor quality video is
a common problem. Stores have video surveillance systems but
never maintain them. Videotape is so