Washington Police to Play 'I Spy' With Cameras, Raising Concerns

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, February 13, 2002 | JESS BRAVIN

[TroutStalker]

WASHINGTON -- A camera mounted on the roof of police headquarters here peers down at pedestrians approaching the steps of the Capitol half a mile away. Then it zooms in on a couple who are climbing the stairs, unaware they are being watched.

[hobbes1]

I guess it's time for FTP, and Middle finger patches, on our clothes....Just to irk'em

[Movemout]

I guess Geo. Orwell was off by about 18 years. Still, not a bad guess.

[serinde]

The police say they are aware of privacy concerns and plan to stop far short of the level of constant surveillance the technology allows. The cameras run by other agencies won't be monitored by the police unless they are alerted to a specific problem, Mr. Gaffigan says, and the video feeds won't be recorded unless there's a particular reason to do so.

That doesn't reassure everyone. "You are building in a surveillance infrastructure, and how it's used now is not likely how it's going to be used two years from now or five years from now," says Mr. Steinhardt of the ACLU.

An surprisingly accurrate statement from the ACLU.