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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