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Chicago's Camera Network Is Everywhere
DesScorp writes "Over the past few years, the City of Chicago has installed video cameras all over the city. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that the city has not only installed its own cameras for law enforcement purposes, but with the aid of IBM, has built a network that possibly links thousands of video surveillance cameras all over Chicago. Possibly, because the city refuses to confirm just how many cameras are in the network. Critics say that Chicago is becoming the city of Big Brother. 'The city links the 1,500 cameras that police have placed in trouble spots with thousands more—police won't say how many—that have been installed by other government agencies and the private sector in city buses, businesses, public schools, subway stations, housing projects and elsewhere. Even home owners can contribute camera feeds. Rajiv Shah, an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied the issue, estimates that 15,000 cameras have been connected in what the city calls Operation Virtual Shield, its fiber-optic video-network loop.' There are so many camera feeds coming in that police and officials can't monitor them all, but when alerted to a situation, can zoom in on the area affected. The ACLU has requested a total number of video feeds and cameras, but as of yet, this information has not been supplied."
I think this is pretty great, seeing how it can aid in the quick prosecution of criminals, provide evidence for a whole array of crimes... and all that jazz.
Mr. Orozco dismisses worries about privacy abuse. The department logs in all users and can monitor what they are doing, he said, assuring accountability. He also said access to the command center is tightly controlled. He declined to discuss specifics of who is allowed inside the center.
Awesome! In that case, I formally request access to the logs.
In my humble opinion, the money wasted on video cameras would be better spent on health & education for the poor, incentivizing smart people to become police officers by paying them more, and vocational rehabilitation of offenders.
Or the money could be given to decent people who can't afford to move to a better city.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
How am I supposed to commit my crimes in privacy now?
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
Hope?
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Hope?
I hear he is currently President and came from Chicago.
;)
At least he's not Anonymous Cowardon anymore. ;)
Some republican wanna jump in and tell us how the ACLU is the source of all that is anti-American?
wearing a mustache
wearing a moustache? What about if you are growing one? ;)
I knew it! Obama's birth certificate isn't real! He's a secret Brit!
Apologies for starting a flame war with a tongue-in-cheek comment.
(disclaimer: this apology is also tongue-in-cheek)
(also, obligatory woosh)
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
Spend a few years locked up in a confined, overcrowded place with a lot of other moderately violent people and no contact with women, and you'll bet people come out keyed for violence and with trouble relating to women.
So that's why tech support has all the trouble with the ladies.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
Chicago has been violating the civil rights of it's residents for years in ways that are far more obnoxious than recording public spaces...
No they haven't!!!
Attention Chicago residents, just shoot out every camera lens with your handguns! ...Oh wait a second.
Like its partner city Philadelphia, Chicago is the City of Big Brotherly Love.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
I hear he is currently President and came from Chicago.
Oh yeah? Where's the birth certificate, eh?
> He's a secret Brit!
Nope. Obama is Irish.
Foolish, are we?
Perhaps we merely want to:
1. Have sex regularly(moustaches are a major turnoff for a lot of women)
2. Not be mistaken for a cop
Of course the typical /.ian has very little chance of either of these happening anyway, so i guess i see your point ;-)
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.