It's only going to get worse from here.

This is a tough one for me.

On the one hand, when you're riding the subway in D.C. it is comforting to see those cameras.

On the other hand ... with growing recognition software and etc. as the trend continues it will get to the point where if the government wants to, they can track you from the moment you leave your house to the moment you return.

Bad neighborhoods being monitored don't bother me; it's a force multiplier for the police.

The ability to track any individual does bother me.

I don't know how to deal with those two conflicting views.
 
Bad neighborhoods being monitored don't bother me; it's a force multiplier for the police.
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First they came for the bad neighborhoods, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't in a bad neighborhood.
 
First they came for the bad neighborhoods, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't in a bad neighborhood.
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A true and valid comment. And since there's no definition of a "bad neighborhood" that will stand up to the PC police, or be a meaningful restriction, if they can do the "bad neighborhoods" they can do mine.

Like I said ... I'm torn on this.

On the one hand, since I don't commit crimes there's no need for the police to track me.

On the other hand ... I do get involved in political statements. And with cameras in place there is nothing to stop the police from tracking me, or whomever, for political reasons.

I just hate to deny the police a useful tool in places that it makes sense.

Anybody else torn in this manner? Any solutions?
 
I'm not torn, but I see your logic.

Whats next? Installing cameras in your home so they can "protect you from an intruder?" :D (I know, I'm reaching.)
 
Put more police on the street in the high crime areas.

Next it will be cameras in all homes with children so the Child Welfare Dept can make sure they are not being abused.

The government monitoring activities of individuals like this is a very bad idea and this system will be abused in ways we cannot begin to imagine.
 
Well I am not torn, but like ericp said, I can see your logic. I have problems with the cameras just in 'bad neighborhoods' idea. Does it increase the police presence, sure it does, but I am still very skeptical of this type of stuff. Where does it stop...like the one commenter in the article said...one camera is not so bad but when the number increases to 5000+ then that's a big problem.
 
Another issue with this kind of thing is that hackers and unauthorized entities will likely gain access to this kind of info as well.

If our own government monitors data on the coming and goings of the populace and patterns and faces that can be run through a face recognition software program, then whats to keep anyone else from knowing the same things--AS WELL AS where the cameras ARENT pointing.

But Im SURE the government monitoring systems are invincible ;)
 
Let's not forget the one thing that DC would have one thing going for it in this one case: thieves. DC has a crime problem they can't control. Hopefully this will get shut down by people stealing the cameras. They've gotta be worth something.
 
Well, when you ban guns you have to do something to try to cope with the resulting out-of-control violent crime, even if it is installing thousands of cameras. We saw it in the UK...

watchful_eyes.jpg


... we shouldn't be surprised to see it in DC, just that it hasn't come about earlier.
 
^^^
All the cameras have not helped the Brits with their violent crime rates.

But when someone makes an illegal u-turn with no one else within a mile at 0300, they can send him a traffic citation.

Whoo boy, they don't undertand irony over there anymore.
 
Big Brother

"They" don't need cameras in our homes. They have technoligies that we are not aware of. In a court case I was a party in the lawyers told us to be very careful what we did in our homes and especially near any window because "They" could not only moniter us but could use it to intemidate us or use it in court.

Big Brother is not a threat it is a reality that we must be aware of. The BATF forms that are filled out on each of us are by law never to be used and must be destroyed in 48 hours. All that believe this is truly happening I have some Fla. swamp land for sale.
 
a thought provoker

is how I see this kind of thing. It has good points but also allows for abuse of power. How each of us views the camera issues is somewhat personal. While we don't want bad things to go unresolved we do not want our liberties invaded. Sadly the latter seems to be the case since the Patriot Acts was enacted and the numerous admissions in congressional hearing on how some provision might have been accidentally misused.

Most of us might agree that camera used for traffic control are a good idea. Except those who got ticketed becasue of the camera may disagree. Now use those same camera to monitor hallways in some school where violent acts are committed against students by other students and the reactions begin to flare. Metal detectors at the entry of the school seem somewhat bizarre in every school until some 10 year old gets discovered with a pistol in his lunch box. Move those metal detectors to the entrance to a shopping mall and the reaction is probably going to be one of displeasure by those who like to carry for SD.

The question most people will have when camera are installed in thier neighborhood is going to be: are they there to protect me or spy on me? The fear factor comes into play when things get personal.

One thing is certain the technology to do the spying is definitely available. Perhaps one thing that needs to be enacted along with the use of this equipment is very substantial penalties for misuse of the systems. Unlike the PA where ops is allowed without penalty.
 
First off, a ridiculously large number of people working for DC are stupid. When I say stupid, I actually mean to say corrupt, crack-addicted, and hopelessly incompetent.

So, video cameras ain't gonna accomplish jack ____. The guys monitoring those things will be asleep on the job or downloading porn instead. I'm serious. How many times has Mayor Fenty acknowledged DC employees' predisposition to porn at work?

DC is the city that can't even get its 911 system in order. DC is the city that recently forgot about 4 kids from one family, who stopped going to school for months, until the neighbors of the family smelled their rotting, murdered corpses. DC is the city that elected Marion Barry... watched him get arrested... re-elected him... watched him get arrested again.. and still voted him back into public office! DC is the city that dumped $600+ million for a baseball field (in a football city) while the rest of Anacostia is one of the worst neighborhoods in all of America.

DC is the city that wouldn't let Shelly Parker, Dick Heller, etc. defend themselves in their own homes.

Now they're gonna try to do camera security?

Yeah sure, it may be a case of the dreaded (insert 1984 reference here)... but I'm not worried. Expect to see those cameras either in utter disrepair or being auctioned on eBay by thieves.

Second, many of us here are quick to point out liberal bias in media; don't pull a double-standard. Don't ignore any other kind of bias either, especially from the Moonie Cult Washington Times. That was one smelly and biased pile of steamy... journalism.
 
"He's smart.

-Why does he have to look up?

The satellite's about 155 miles above the earth. It can only look straight down.

-That's kind of limited.

Maybe you can design a new one.

-Maybe I will, idiot."

...guess they got that covered now :D
 
"The primary benefit of what we're doing is for public health and safety,"
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That is such bull-crap.

The thing that bothers me is, those cameras were orignally intended for traffic, and now they are allowing law enforcement to use them.

I have said all along, fight these cameras at every turn because they will eventually be turned on the citizens by the police.... <sarcasm>for our own benefit, of course.</sarcasm>
 
I can well understand the feelings of Grand Illusion. But considering the past record of our government I cannot but believe that it will be used in the worst of ways. The actions of the government has done nothing to instill trust for many, many years.
 
Grand Illusion
Bad neighborhoods being monitored don't bother me; it's a force multiplier for the police.

The ability to track any individual does bother me.

I don't know how to deal with those two conflicting views.
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It's easy. Be against the cameras on every occasion because we are already seeing that cameras intended for one purpose are now, without a vote from the citizens, being used by the police for completely different purposes.

For decades we did without Cameras to track our citizens. Somehow we survived. We can continue to survive without them. Don't let government "scare" tactics about the need to fight crime sway you.
 
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