Ihosvani Rodriguez

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The 76-year-old snowbird wasn't planning on landing on the Internet that morning.

Paul Spates woke up at 5:15 a.m. on April 9 for his daily walk along the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk. Somewhere between New York and Fillmore streets, he became the victim of a severe beating and robbery that was caught on video.

Much to his embarrassment and dismay, Spates' attack is now eternalized on the Internet. He found out how much so when he returned to his home in Massachusetts earlier this summer and learned that nearly everyone at his senior center had already watched it.

"All you have to do is Google the words 'Paul' 'Spates' 'Hollywood' and it's there," he said recently.

With the proliferation of surveillance cameras everywhere, videos like these quickly are becoming an effective crime-fighting tool for law enforcement. But as police use them with increased frequency, more victims are saying they feel conflicted between the importance of seeking justice versus having their crimes shown repeatedly to the public.