2002-12-06|8:56 a.m.
The next time you visit the nation's capital; your every move may be watched and recorded. The DC Police Department, without public knowledge or city council approval, has set up a centralized video surveillance network. The system can bring together video feeds from police cameras on streets and buildings, in neighborhoods, within the city�s subway system and even at public schools. With the flip of a switch, officers can zoom in on people a half-mile away.
The implicit justification for the video surveillance system is security. But it is far from clear how the proliferation of video cameras through public spaces in D.C. would have any real impact on crime. In Oakland, CA, officials considered video surveillance for three years and rejected it. Police Chief Joseph Samuels, Jr., stated that his department had hoped to be ��among the pioneers in the field of taped video camera surveillance� but ultimately found that �there is no conclusive way to establish that the presence of video surveillance resulted in the prevention or reduction of crime.�
Instead, tourists, opposition politicians, racial and ethnic minorities, peaceful dissidents and other people could have their every move catalogued and tracked. This system of cameras could be used to monitor peaceful protests and the activities of innocent people throughout the city. This information could then be misused to blackmail, intimidate or bully people who are exercising their freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, or just going about their daily lives.
This is not just a local issue and not only because D.C. is our nation�s capital. This system would make D.C. the first city in the nation to have comprehensive video surveillance and unless it is stopped, other cities and communities will inevitably follow its example. We must not allow Main Street USA to become Surveillance Central.
You can have an impact. Outcry from activists like you helped to squash the Administration's Operation TIPS which would have made domestic spies out of postal office employees, repair crews, and other service providers. Over 63,000 emails and faxes were sent by ACLU Action Network members to Members of Congress to protest this spying and as a result of these and other actions, TIPS was prohibited by the Homeland Security Act.
We need your help again and this is a great example of how people can make a difference. The D.C. city council is going to hold hearings on video surveillance next week. By urging the city council to shut down the video surveillance network, we can ensure that funds earmarked for this system are invested in proven police practices instead of expanding an expensive, ineffective, easily abused surveillance system.
Click here to find out more about this issue and protest this new system.