Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Big Brother Flops in DC


Many D.C. police said they had hoped that installing dozens of new surveillance cameras across the city would assist them in cracking down on crime, but the system does not appear to be working as planned.

But that doesn't mean the program will be discontinued--that just means there aren't enough cameras.

Maybe they need to start moving them into private spaces as well.

Good Lord, look at what dependency-conditioned humans are willing to subject themselves to in order to avoid personal responsibility for protecting themselves and their society.

[Via Jason M]

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I forgot where the site was, but it was English, and it had over a hundred photos of burnt cameras lining the highways. They are popping up here in Texas, and I almost never fail to give them the single finger salute. Watch me close. Watch me very close. Because I see you, too. Don't worry, comrade, soon we will be closer than brothers.

Anonymous said...

The article said that the cameras are not monitored real time so the bad guys already know that:

a. The cameras are not going to bring hordes of cops screaming down on them if they commit a crime in view of them.

b. Because the only threat is the tapes providing a good enough ID to arrest/prosecute them, all they have to do is wear "hoodies" or other clothing items to obscure their faces and viola! Cameras foiled.

What kind of deterrent is that?

The only way the cameras could POSSIBLY be an effective deterrent is if they were actively monitored and used to dispatch police to the scene of an ongoing crime. Even if that started happening, how long do you think it would be before the bad guys just started taking the cameras out every day?

Anonymous said...

Personally I'm surprised that we aren't already seeing the older perps getting younger kids to nail the cameras with paintball guns on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

I'm am ecstatic that the plan isn't working. If they aren't willing to do the work, we don't need them. There is a reason our founders didn't want public officials, including law enforcement to have it easy.

E. David Quammen said...

Shouldn't it be the other way around? SHOULDN'T WE BE WATCHING THEM? They are our employees after all. Think there would be much better results, if the tables, (or cameras), were turned!

Anonymous said...

I don't know the exact answer to your question Mr. Battaglia, but isn't it strange that so many venues have now made it illegal to record or videotape public servants in the performance of their public duty,despite the fact that they have cameras and recording devices everywhere intruding on the citizens' private concerns.

Whatever they are hiding they aren't embarrassed to admit they are hiding it, only afraid to let us know what it is..

David Codrea said...

I once had a tape recorder plainly visible when talking to a police sergeant--who informed me he COULD arrest me on the spot for it if he wanted to.

I see on Drudge where some Milwaukee alderman wants to put cameras in bars.

No doubt his constituents will reelect him by a landslide.