Crime writers' new conundrum: How to get away with murder when cameras are everywhere

Crime writers now face a new constraint: it’s harder to make a killer “get away” when cameras and digital surveillance are everywhere. Doorbell systems, license plate readers, CCTV inside stores, and fleets of camera-equipped vehicles such as Teslas, Waymos, and delivery robots create video and data trails that can identify suspects quickly—often in real time. In the Bay Area, San Jose Police Department Lt. Todd Jennings, who oversees a unit with access to thousands of city cameras, said the imagery can function like fingerprints. Novelist Samantha Downing, author of “Too Old for This,” described a character who tries to evade tracking by leaving her phone behind and covering her plate. Civil-liberties advocates warn that storing and sharing footage about non-suspects can be misused.