[IP] Big Brother? What Big Brother? I don't see no Big Brother ...
------ Forwarded Message
From: Randall <rvh40@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 11:41:22 -0400
To: Dave <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Big Brother? What Big Brother? I don't see no Big Brother ...
>
http://tennessean.com/government/archives/05/03/68130898.shtml?Element_ID=681308
98
> Outcry leads to police dropping plans to monitor audio in 2 areas
>
> By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF
> Staff Writer
>
>
>
> ACLU still pushes for no video, either
>
> Public pressure over a proposed Metro police surveillance network has
> led police to scrap plans for an audio monitoring system that would have
> allowed officers to randomly eavesdrop on conversations in public
> places.
>
> A video network, without audio recording devices, remains on track,
> however.
>
> Reports of the city's request for bids on the camera system generated
> questions and criticism from a variety of sectors, including some Metro
> Council members and Internet discussion forums.
>
> ''As we thought more about audio, and as we listened to public
> discussion about this entire subject, we didn't want the benefit of
> overt surveillance cameras being overshadowed by the audio issue,''
> Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said.
>
> Initially, police will place six cameras in the Cleveland Park area of
> east Nashville and also downtown in the tourist-heavy Second Avenue and
> Broadway district.
>
> If the system works out, the department plans to buy more cameras and
> build a more expansive network throughout the city.
>
> The hope is for the cameras to catch criminals and deter wrongdoing in
> the first place, police officials said.
>
> Police Chief Ronal Serpas initially said the department's use of audio
> equipment was necessary, for example, to listen in on drug deals and to
> determine the aggressor during an assault. But faced with criticism over
> privacy issues, police studied the issue and determined that audio
> recording wasn't vital.
>
> ''The bottom line is that perhaps (audio recording) is not all that
> beneficial,'' Aaron said.
>
> Police-monitored surveillance systems have been deployed in other major
> cities across the country, including places such as Memphis and Chicago.
> Often the installations have been greeted with complaints from privacy
> advocates.
>
> Blake Wylie, who operates an Internet blog called the Nashville Files,
> has seen readers of his Web site band together to oppose the Police
> Department's surveillance plan.
>
> After an article in The Tennessean last month about the police plan, the
> blog's readers were generally unanimous in their contempt for the
> proposed system and posted their thoughts in his corner of cyberspace.
>
> Like many of his readers, Wylie has called for police to abandon the
> surveillance network altogether, viewing it as a small step toward a
> larger erosion of freedom by government.
>
> ''It may seem like a small issue now ? but where do we go next?'' Wylie
> asked.
>
> The outcry prompted Serpas to respond to the blog operator in a 21?2-page
> letter, announcing the city's decision to scrap the audio component.
>
> Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, yesterday
> praised Serpas' decision as a ''first step.'' The group continues to
> oppose plans to move forward with random video monitoring.
>
> ''I think that one's right to privacy is not a liberal or conservative,
> or a left or right value,'' she said. ''All of us assume there is an
> expectation of privacy, and we don't believe that our private
> conversations or images should be captured by government cameras.''
>
> Christian Bottorff can be reached at 726-8904 or
> cbottorff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cuckoosnest mailing list
>
>
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