Smile, Citizen, you're on Surveillance Camera

[The_Sonarman]

Smile, Citizen, you're on Surveillance Camera

Surveillance cameras already follow your every movement in banks, stores and subways, and soon they’ll be taking your picture on city streets. Last week the New York City Police Department announced they would add 505 new cameras to 253 different locations on New York’s streets. The police officials say these new cameras will help catch terrorists. They also say they want to preserve people’s privacy, but police are plowing ahead with these new street scanning techniques. Their brilliant solution for protecting people’s privacy? Pleasant signs reminding you the police are monitoring the area.

Thank you, Big Brother.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=58556

[Lazarus]

Well in today's environment Im not so sure Im opposed to this step... It is afterall a public place and the police are responsible to patrol there... They are the authority in these public places and they dont need a warrant to investigate, patrol, or make arrests there...

It would be a different case entirely if the cameras were being proposed for private areas that enjoy constitutional protection from warrantless searches...

I would not react any more to these surveilance cameras on public streets than I would to seeing a uniformed officer in the same location... This is not a private place so personal privacy is not being violated...

As long as the cameras are watching the streets and not looking into bedrooms I see no problem for anyone except criminals...