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

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well 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
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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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