Safety or Freedom – Pick One

A couple of weeks ago, the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition started installing surveillance cameras at strategic locations throughout the city for the purpose of watching unscrupulous activity.  There was an uproar then, as there is today, about whether the cameras violate citizen’s privacy rights.  I stated at that time that although I’m concerned about the potential for abuse, I thought the benefits outweighed any downsides.  My rationale was that the cameras are watching PUBLIC spaces, not PRIVATE bedrooms.  When I walk downtown, I’m seen and watched be literally hundreds of people if I walk more than a block or two.  What’s the difference if there is one more set of eyes peering at me?

Well the cameras made their first public impact this week.  The following is a story reprinted from Lancaster Online:

Police were able to nab a knife-wielding bandit within hours of a heist Saturday at a Rite-Aid store, thanks in part, they said, to the city’s controversial surveillance cameras.

Police said Alexis Mendoza, 27, of the 300 block of South Queen Street, entered the Rite-Aid at 825 E. Chestnut St. shortly before 10:45 a.m. with his head and face covered by a white cloth or shirt. Displaying a large knife, he jumped over the counter and ordered a store clerk to open the cash register.  The clerk, who was unable to open the register, was able to flee from the robber, at which time the suspect sought out another employee, police said.  The second clerk opened the register, and the suspect was able to remove an undetermined amount of cash, police said.

As the bandit fled the store, a witness called 911 and provided police with a description of the suspect’s vehicle and its registration number.

 

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said police traced the vehicle and found it parked outside the suspect’s residence and alerted the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition members, who monitor cameras placed throughout the city.

 

Coalition members monitored the vehicle while officers secured a search warrant for it, Gray said.  Later, when they saw several persons enter the car and drive off, they notified officers, who stopped the vehicle a few blocks away.  During an interview with police, Mendoza, who had been driving the car, admitted to being the lone robber.

 

“In that area, it would have been extremely difficult for police to watch the vehicle without being discovered, which could have resulted in the suspect fleeing,” Gray said. “Using the camera allowed them to monitor the vehicle undetected … . I think it’s great they recognize they can use the cameras as tools.”

 

Gray said the camera used in this instance was only recently installed as part of a camera-surveillance program that began several years ago.  By the end of summer, 165 cameras are to be installed throughout the city.

 

Mendoza was arraigned Sunday on two counts of robbery and remanded to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $50,000 straight bail. ¹

Related articles of interest:

• Real life privacy concerns for the Net from Bruce Schneier(cnewmark.com)
• ADDRESSING PERVASIVE SURVEILLANCE at the Open Source Sensing Initiative. “This is an open source-st…(pajamasmedia.com)
• Facebook Rolling Out New Privacy Settings(marketingpilgrim.com)