Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/13/sanfrancisco_surveillance_cameras/
Civil rights groups slam San Francisco surveillance expansion
Urge opposition at next week's police commission hearing
Posted in Music and Media, 13th January 2007 00:50 GMT
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups are spearheading opposition to a plan by the San Francisco Police Department to install 25 new surveillance cameras throughout the city.
The groups, which also include the National Lawyers Guild, are encouraging residents to attend a meeting next Wednesday of the San Francisco Police Commission, which is scheduled to hold a vote on the proposal, according to the advocacy group. Critics argue the cameras are costly, fail to reduce crime and threaten privacy.
While surveillance cameras are a fact of life for residents in the UK, the move to install them in US cities - including New Orleans, Detroit, Los Angeles and Baltimore - is significantly newer. Last year, San Francisco started a pilot program that included the installation of 33 video cameras, and police intend to install another 50 over the next year, according (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/09/BAGL4L2KK61.DTL) to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The cameras, which cost $4,000 to $7,000 apiece, are mostly installed in publicly subsidized housing projects throughout the city. Proponents, which include the city's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, say the surveillance program has already helped police catch a suspect who shot a girl in the leg and that a policy that images are automatically erased after 72 hours ensures civil liberties are not abused. ®