IP: More on park police surveillance in Philly, by Bernie S

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 12:47:25 -0400
>To: politech@politechbot.com
>From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
>
>X-News-Site: Cluebot is at http://www.cluebot.com/
>
>---
>Photos of Independence Hall:
>http://www.mccullagh.org/cgi-bin/photosearch.cgi?name=independence+hall
>Philadelphia police at 2000 GOP convention:
>http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/gop-convention-protests.html
>---
>
>Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 12:28:22 -0400
>To: declan@well.com
>From: e cummings <bernies@netaxs.com>
>Subject: more perverse national park police surveillance
>
>declan,
>
>a couple of years ago i noticed a new, high-power, remote controlled (pan, 
>tilt, zoom) video surveillance camera hanging in the bell tower of 
>independence hall here in philadelphia.  it was a large Burle unit--like 
>those i remember seeing in the maximum-security federal prison i was held 
>in without bail in 1995 (for an offense the government later admitted in 
>writing involved "no victims.")  this particular high-power video camera 
>has a huge lens and the ability to zoom in on the smallest details--like 
>newspaper text--far outside the confines of the small independence 
>national park area it points out towards.
>
>the perversity of such a camera being installed in the bell tower of 
>independence hall--a historical building in which our founding fathers 
>signed our constitution and risked their lives to revolt against a 
>government that failed to respect its subjects' privacy--was hard to 
>ignore.  from where liberty had once rung, now our federal government was 
>using sophisticated electronic surveillance technology to spy on its citizens.
>
>i brought this ironic situation to the attention of a local newspaper 
>writer, gwen shaffer, who wrote a cover story about 
>it:  http://www.citypaper.net/articles/122498/coverstory.shtml  later that 
>week, some federal park police officers i spoke with were upset about the 
>public revelation of their new surveillance system, and claimed it would 
>impede the system's effectiveness at preventing crime (rape was the 
>example they gave.)  when i asked them how effective a deterrent it could 
>be if the system remained a secret, they became indignant.
>
>shortly thereafter, black netting was placed over the bell tower opening, 
>making the camera very difficult to see.  then an identical camera was 
>added looking south.
>
>-ed cummings
>"CALEA's First Casualty"
>
>
>
>
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