EPIC Seeks DC Surveillance Camera Records

Default.cfg writes: "In response to news reports that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) had constructed an extensive surveillance camera network in Washington, D.C., EPIC has filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to learn more about the system. The system allows police to monitor surveillance cameras from around the city in a central office called the 'Synchronized Operations Command Center' (SOCC)." Read on below for more information, including some interesting links. " The system was assembled and activated with no public dialogue or debate. Since its activation, the camera network has been used to monitor individuals engaged in legitimate First Amendment activities, including the participants in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests in April 2000. Basic questions regarding the system -- such as the cost of the system and issues of access to data, data retention, and data sharing -- remain unknown.

EPIC's request seeks information about the cameras, the policies on their use, and future plans for expansion of the network. The request was directed to the MPD and federal agencies that have access to the SOCC for monitoring. The MPD has plans to link even more cameras to the system, including cameras from private stores in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood.

Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD) has expressed objections to the monitoring network as well. Rep. Morella chairs a House Government Reform subcommittee that has oversight on DC policy, and has called for hearings on the issue.

On February 26, the MPD announced that it had turned off twelve cameras that monitored buildings in and around the National Mall. The cameras were deactivated with the close of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah and the end of the terror alert announced last month by Attorney General John Ashcroft; however, the cameras could be reactivated at any time.

EPIC Press Release on DC Surveillance Cameras: http://www.epic.org/open_gov/FOIA/dccameraspr.html

EPIC Face Recognition Page: http://www.epic.org/privacy/facerecognition/

Privacy International Video Surveillance Page: http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/cctv/in dex.html"

Comments

Same here

[itwerx]

I live in Seattle and there is a small town called Everett just to the North of me. I drive around there from time to time on business and noticed one day all of a sudden that EVERY intersection on a main street (highway, actually) had sprouted a total of four cameras with an additional two at the midpoint between intersections. This pattern is repeated for several miles and covers every square inch of the street.
I asked around and couldn't get an answer from anybody about them except that there had been no voting process, which is unusual for a town that votes on everything. It's also a little odd that a small town could even afford to put up that much surveillance. I'm no conspiracy theorist but I have to wonder if it isn't a test project.

Re:Same here

[swillden]

one day all of a sudden that EVERY intersection on a main street (highway, actually) had sprouted a total of four cameras with an additional two at the midpoint between intersections

I'm not sure what's up with the cameras between intersections, but in a lot of places traffic control systems are beginning to use cameras in place of magnetic anomaly detectors or pressure plates to determine whether or not a car is waiting at the intersection. In most cases the signal from the camera never goes any further than the computer that controls the lights (and, of course, processes the imagery). The cameras are cheaper to install, easier to maintain (although more fragile) and, given appropriate image processing software can recognize when a vehicle is approaching the intersection rather than just when it has arrived. This means, for example, that an intersection that normally leaves the green light on constantly in the middle of the night can see a car coming the other way and change the red to green *before* it arrives, so it doesn't have to stop (as it would with the MAD approach).

Everetty may indeed be under massive surveillance of its streets, but it's also entirely possible that they've just installed a new traffic control system to improve the flow of traffic.