Slashdot Mirror
Some Baltimore Residents Are Lobbying To Bring Back Aerial Surveillance (theoutline.com)
A local group in Baltimore argues that a plane providing real-time surveillance of the city will dial down police brutality. From a report: A piloted plane would fly over the city, capture images from 30,000 feet in the air, and use a computer program to stitch the photos together for a real-time, by-the-second portrait of what's happening on the ground. With access to all 911 dispatches, which provide information about the the time and place of a crime, local analysts could track the dot-like people and cars at the scene of a crime forward and backward in time until they arrive at a house or address. With a permit from the city of Baltimore, this surveillance system could access videos from street cameras and cross-reference their aerial data with precise, on-the-ground footage.
The analysts would then compose a PowerPoint report with visual data and a written explanation regarding the activities of all possible suspects or witnesses, and they send out five copies of that report via thumb drive: two copies go to the Baltimore police (one for an investigator, and one for evidence storage), and if the case goes to trial, two copies are given to the city prosecutor, and one copy is given to the defense. All of this could occur in just a few hours. Baltimore residents argue that a system like this is the only solution for a city grappling with high crime rates and a systemically corrupt police department.
The analysts would then compose a PowerPoint report with visual data and a written explanation regarding the activities of all possible suspects or witnesses, and they send out five copies of that report via thumb drive: two copies go to the Baltimore police (one for an investigator, and one for evidence storage), and if the case goes to trial, two copies are given to the city prosecutor, and one copy is given to the defense. All of this could occur in just a few hours. Baltimore residents argue that a system like this is the only solution for a city grappling with high crime rates and a systemically corrupt police department.
The solution to a systemically corrupt police force should be the reformation of the police force, not some multi-million dollar project to watch all activity in the city and beget from, dare I say it, corruption itself. Plus, where would that end?
I hope "the citizens" all declared their personal interests in such a project. As if.
First off I'd point out that Baltimore is a city of about 620,000. Not the biggest city, but it's more than big enough that trying to provide areal over watch to watch the watchers, so to speak, is going to be increasingly expensive. Not to mention the fact of how hard it is going to be to try and use a 'computer program to stitch the photos' of still pictures from 30K feet up in the air. Assuming that's even technologically possible and good enough to be used in a court of law. Not to mention the idea of trying to fly in bad weather or at night, and most digital cameras don't work very well at night, especially when your moving.
No, I think this entire plan was cooked up by some activist group that doesn't have a single clue about what they're talking about. But if they're really concerned about police brutality then I would suggest lobbying the BPD to use mandatory body cameras. That's a far more feasible plan than trying to do areal surveillance of the police. Of course I don't really think they'll go for that... because it turns out that those body cameras sometimes end up being used in court to justify the actions of the police against bad actors. There's been a handful of incidents where someone get's pulled over by the cops, make up a wild story after the fact about police brutality, only to have their claim completely disproves when the body camera footage is released.
That's not true. Juries rarely convict cops, eapecially white juries, especially when the officer involved was on duty. You seem like one of those people who thinks court proceedings are about the rule of law and not about 2 highly trained parties attempting to manipulate the opinion of average citizens to see who "wins".
If the local PD is corrupt, vote out the Council and City leadership, fire the Police Chiefs and get accountability back. Creating a surveillance state is the antithesis of freedom. Otherwise, just like Democracy in the Middle East, you end up throwing out that which you want most.