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[ The Video Agenda ]
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New York plans for more surveillance
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by Mark J. Pescatore
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In London, its official name is the Traffic and Environment Zone. Not very catchy. The media prefers to call it the “Ring of Steel.” It’s a network of thousands of surveillance cameras that photographs people in the front seats of vehicles that enter the city.
According to the NYPD, the Counterterrorism Bureau is developing a similar video surveillance network, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, in an effort to keep watch over the New York Stock Exchange and other potential targets in the Financial District. More than 100 cameras should be tracking license plates by the end of the year. Eventually, if they can secure the $90 million or so for the program, police officials hope to supplement those images with video from thousands of private and government surveillance cameras to create a surveillance web of the area.
That’s right -- thousands of cameras, millions of dollars, and, believe it or not, an overwhelming thumbs-up from the general public.
Six years ago, Islamic terrorists hijacked commercial airplanes and changed the way we think about homeland security. In fact, according to an ABC News/Washington Post telephone poll conducted in mid-July, the vast majority of Americans (71 percent) support the increased use of surveillance cameras. Republicans, college graduates, seniors, women, and whites were the strongest supporters.
Still, there are still plenty of folks who don’t like the idea of government-operated surveillance. The American Civil Liberties Union is arguably the most vocal in its opposition.
Last month, the ACLU condemned the expanding use of surveillance by cities in California. In the report, Under the Watchful Eye, authors Mark Schlosberg and Nicole A. Ozer argued, “Cities throughout California have approved and implemented camera systems without guidelines to guard against abuse and, in most circumstances, with little or no public debate.”
There will always be critics of increased government surveillance, and that’s a good thing. The upcoming initiative in Manhattan is a far cry from the pervasive surveillance of the Thought Police that Winston Smith faced in George Orwell’s 1984, but there’s nothing wrong with questioning the government when privacy issues are at stake. What guidelines will be in place for New York’s new LMSI? How do we know that an embarrassing trip on the sidewalk won’t end up on America’s Funniest Home Videos?
As we continue to live under the threat of terrorism, many Americans are willing to concede some freedoms in the interest of improved security. Of course, the effectiveness of surveillance cameras will continue to be a hot topic for debate. In the meantime, get used to being watched -- video surveillance is only going to get more extensive.
Mark J. Pescatore is the editor. Contact him at mpescatore@nbmedia.com.
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