Video Surveillance Captures Good Behavior, Too

When most people think of video surveillance, criminal activity is probably one of the first things that come to mind. After all, surveillance cameras are put in place to protect people and their property. Their main purpose is to deter crime and provide visual evidence if and when an unlawful act takes place.

While there’s no end to the list of criminal activities caught on surveillance, the growing use of security cameras has resulted in many good deeds being captured as well. Many of these are heartwarming examples of complete strangers displaying extraordinary acts of kindness, or in some cases, even putting their own safety at risk to rescue someone from danger.

The spontaneous nature of these acts (the people involved are clearly not focused on the camera) makes them even more compelling.

Here are three of our favorite surveillance videos showing people lending a hand to help someone out.

• Crowd of Good Samaritans – Recently, surveillance cameras in a Perth, Australia commuter train station captured a crowd of people working together to free a man whose leg became trapped in the space between the platform and the train. The footage – which quickly went viral – shows the crowd working in unison to push the train back just enough to release the man’s leg.

• Speedy Stranger to the Rescue – Surveillance cameras in a North Babylon, New York, gas station recently captured David Cincotta running to the rescue of three children trapped in a runaway car.Cincotta stopped at the gas station to fill up on his way home from work when he noticed a vehicle in the parking lot rolling away. He quickly ran outside and jumped into the driver’s seat to apply the brake.

• Roadside Intervention – One of the most extraordinary examples of human kindness caught on video involves a bus driver in Buffalo, New York, who pulled over on to the side of the highway to help a distraught woman who was preparing to jump off a bridge. The video, which includes audio, shows the driver, Darnell Barton, getting out of the bus and calling out to the woman before he pulls her back over the guardrail.Passengers on the bus can be heard applauding as Barton returns to the driver’s seat while emergency personnel tend to the woman.

Got another example of a good deed caught on surveillance? Tell us your favorite – and add the video link – in the comment section below.