'Would-be thieves certainly want to scout their locations,' an expert said about why some people are blurring their homes on Google maps.
Some homeowners in Southern California are blurring their homes on Google Maps as a means of deterring potential burglaries, Ryan Railsback, an officer in the Riverside Police Department, told ABC News.
"The crooks are looking for new and innovative ways to victimize people," Railsback said. "It's good for the public to be aware of that and counter what the criminals are already doing."In response to ABC News's request for comment, a Google spokesperson said the company allows users to blur their home if they prefer that it appear that way on Google Maps.
The safety tactic of blurring one's home on Google Maps has been around for years, Christopher Herrmann, a professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told ABC News. The simple digital fix could stop robbers from targeting a given home, he said.When seeking online images of a home, criminals look for valuable assets worth stealing and any security barriers that may be in place to stop them, Herrman said.
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