41 Action News spent the afternoon doing a social experiment - secretly record people in public from a very short distance and see how many actually notice.
The project came after 41 Action News Anchor Christa Dubill spotted a man in an Overland Park grocery store attempting to record up her skirt on Sunday.
The equipment: a smartphone and a GoPro camera.
The place: Public parks and the Kansas City International Airport.
The result: Several people were recorded from just inches away. No one noticed.
“Not shocking really,” said Brad Kimball, who flew in Tuesday from Raleigh, N.C.
Kimball was one of many people publicly recorded from a GoPro camera attached to a book bag in front of a baggage claim at KCI. The camera was controlled remotely from a smartphone app, meaning no one actually had to physically press record on the camera to make it work.
Although all he had to do was look down at his feet to notice the camera, Kimball wasn’t aware of the “peeping” until it was brought to his attention, something he now plans to do himself if he ever sees anything nefarious in the future.
"The fact that it happens I guess, [I’ll] continue to let people know,” he said.
Joanie Underwood was connecting at KCI from Topeka and said the realization that she could be recorded intimately from a cell phone, even while in public, is alarming, making her paranoid.
She described how such criminal recording would make her feel.
"Attacked and totally disrespected ... it's just another type of rape,” she said.
Unfortunately, Underwood’s paranoia may be warranted. Some local police have recently stated they’ve been seeing more criminal acts via cell phone video.
It was Jan. 29 when a man was busted at a Roeland Park Quick Trip for recording video up the skirts of underage students. Police say he placed his cell phone the ground and pretended to tie his shoes while recording.
Overland Park police have found the man responsible for recording Dubill on Sunday. They interviewed him but made no arrest. The investigation continues as they are still working to get surveillance video from the grocery store.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com.
