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1788 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 3:43 PM
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This is an interesting story since it relates to the use of photo cameras not to fine for violations, but to record ALL vehciles for POTENTIAL investigations. This is the sort of mission creep and the "thin edge of the wedge" issues related to automatic surveillance that riases grave concerns. Also note the old "if your are not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to fear" and "it is all for your safety" arguments, only this time as an excuse to record everybody's comings and goings with out even a pretence of any laws being broken. from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/09/MNT6189U0U.DTL Tiburon may install license plate cameras Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, July 10, 2009 (07-09) 19:11 PDT -- Welcome to Tiburon. Click. Your presence has been noted. The posh and picturesque town that juts into San Francisco Bay is poised to do something unprecedented: use cameras to record the license plate number of every vehicle that crosses city limits. Some residents describe the plan as a commonsense way to thwart thieves, most of whom come from out of town. Others see an electronic border gate and worry that the project will only reinforce Tiburon's image of exclusivity and snootiness. "I personally don't see too much harm in it, because I have nothing to hide," commodities broker Paul Lambert, 64, said after a trip to Boardwalk Market in downtown Tiburon on a recent afternoon. "Yet," he said, "it still has the taint of Big Brother." Tiburon's camera idea is a marriage of technology, policing and distinct geography. Situated on a peninsula, Tiburon's hillside homes and waterfront shops are accessible by only two roads, allowing police to point the special cameras known as license plate readers at every lane that leads into and out of the town of 8,800. The readers, which use character recognition software, can compare plates to databases of cars that have been stolen or linked to crimes, then immediately notify police of matches, said Police Chief Michael Cronin. If someone burglarized a Tiburon home at 3 a.m. one morning, he said, detectives could consult the devices and find out who came to town in the hours before - and who rolled out soon after. 'Very low-key' "It's very low-key," said Town Manager Peggy Curran. "The whole point of license plates is that people can be identified by them." If the Town Council gives final approval, Curran said, officials hope to install the readers on Tiburon Boulevard and Paradise Drive by late fall. Tiburon plans to spend grant funds on the project and ask two other governments that could benefit from it to contribute to an expected price tag of $100,000 - the city of Belvedere, a bump of land on the southeastern edge of Tiburon, and Marin County. Cronin called it a sound investment. He pointed to a frustrating twist in Tiburon crime: Residents feel so safe that they don't lock their cars and homes. In all of 2007 and 2008, Tiburon recorded 196 thefts, 37 burglaries and a dozen stolen cars. The chief said every alleged thief who was arrested in those years was from outside Tiburon. Findings Suspects Once the street cameras are installed, Cronin said, hunting a burglary suspect could be easier. "We'll look for a plate that came and went," he said. "That's going to give us a very short list to work on." Detectives could then check to see if any of the cars has been linked with crimes in the past. Between 300 and 400 cars use Tiburon Boulevard to travel in or out of the town from midnight to 6 a.m. on weekdays. "It's much more efficient than having an officer sit on the boulevard, watch passing cars and guess who might be a burglar," Cronin said. Nicole Ozer, who directs policy on technology for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, isn't as supportive. She called the cameras a "needle in a haystack" approach that may waste money, invade privacy and invite unfair profiling. "To be under investigation simply because you entered or left Tiburon at a certain time is incredibly intrusive," Ozer said. "Innocent people should be able to go about their daily lives without being tracked and monitored." City leaders promise to prevent abuses. Information on which cars enter and leave town will not be available to the public, they said, and will be erased within 60 days. Police officers will be granted access to the information only during an investigation. License plate readers have exploded in popularity in recent years, but Tiburon would be one of the first to mount them at fixed locations - and perhaps the very first to record every car coming or going. California Highway Patrol officials have put the readers on 18 cruisers and at four fixed locations. CHP officers have seen a huge increase in recoveries of stolen cars since the devices were installed starting in August 2005, the agency said. Devices help CHP Through December, officials said, the CHP had used the devices to recover 1,739 cars and arrest 675 people. San Francisco gave the devices to police as well as parking control officers, allowing them to track cars parked for too long in one spot. Some cities use the cameras to assess anti-congestion tolls on motorists, while casino bosses get an alert when a high roller - or a cheater - pulls in. Outside Tiburon's Boardwalk Market, where a flyer in the window offered a $2,000 reward for the return of a stolen Pomeranian, residents seemed split on the plan. Robin Pryor, 66, of Belvedere said the most important issue was whether the cameras made people safer. "It's just like locking your door," Pryor said. "If they have reason for it to bother them, they shouldn't be coming in." But Fred Mayo, 62, who lives in Tiburon and owns a travel agency in Mill Valley, said the cameras would invade privacy. "Where does it end?" Mayo asked. He referred to the crime blotter in the local newspaper, which listed two incidents recently of kids tossing water balloons at cars, and noted, "It's not like Tiburon's a high-crime area." E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa  sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle |
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Here is more proof that once cameras are in place, Big Brother will find the temptation to add new roles for them irresistible. Do we really want this for our society? from: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2846.asp Louisiana: Speed Camera Company Runs Litter Camera Program Speed camera maker sets up program allowing Baton Rouge, Louisiana to issue $167 automated litter tickets. Speed camera vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) next month will use its automated ticketing expertise to run a litter camera program for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Under first-of-its-kind initiative, city workers will drive around photographing neighborhoods with special cameras hooked into a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite tracking device. The workers will be looking to capture homes that might have litter, weeds or trash on their lawn so that a hefty fine can be imposed. "The mayor's office has put together a new enforcement program with a tough new ordinance and the high-tech services of American Traffic Solutions, the company under contract to operate the city-parish's red-light monitoring system," the mayor's office said in a statement. "ATS already uses video from cameras posted at key intersections to generate violation notices for the owners of vehicles that illegally run red lights." Fifteen "code enforcement specialists" this week began training on the program in which they will drive around looking to issue tickets to homeowners. The code specialists are paid at least $12.49 an hour and must have a valid driver's license, a GED and some experience working in construction to be hired. ATS will download the images that these specialists generate and then use an automated computer system to generate warning letters, tickets and hearing notices similar to those used in the traffic camera program. When "construction materials, litter, refuse, rubbish, appliances, junk vehicles, limbs, trees or other discarded materials or debris" are photographed at a home, a letter will be sent to the last address of record for the property owner. The situation must be remedied within fifteen days to escape the ticket. The penalty imposed by the program is the same as a red light camera citation -- $117 plus "court costs" of $50. If the owner is on vacation or the address on file is incorrect, Baton Rouge will hold a "litter court" administrative hearing where a municipal employee will find that it is "more probable than not" that the missing property owner is guilty. Residents will also be ticketed for putting out garbage cans before 4pm or failing to retrieve them before 6am. The ticket vans start rolling on August 1 and the litter court hearings open September 17.
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Replying to: vcheng (Jul 23, 2009 3:21 am) I suggest that the politicians try using cameras to capture drug dealers and buyers, prostitution areas' participants, politicians on the take for money and deals, and other things that our society actually needs cleaned up.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jul 23, 2009 7:14 am) Let's campaign to get live web cams covering all of the hallways 24/7 in the US Senate and House office buildings. These are public buildings paid for by we taxpayers and we deserve to see who is coming and going. Obama promised us Transparency and this would be a good start.
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Jul 24, 2009 8:14 am) 
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Driving past my favorite construction zone doing 55 (speed limit) the inaccurate radar speed board told me "Your speed is 68, SLOW DOWN". I'm SO glad we don't have photo radar here. 
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Replying to: andys120 (Dec 16, 2008 10:54 am) |
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Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jul 26, 2009 3:29 pm) I love this new fangled technology. 
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From the land of the Union Jack, where automatic speed cameras are legion, one wonders what could be the next step? Well, wonder no more, here is an interesting story about how certain families deemed to be "anti-social" by their local councils will be monitored by cameras 24/7. This raises a deep issue: Once we go down the path of automatic enforcement of the law, and once technology makes 24/7 monitoring of the citizenry possible, the desire to market ever increasing levels of safety and "it is all for your own good" is much too strong for the powers-that-be to resist. We will lose out big time if that happens, please be forewarned! We have to make sure that automatic blind photo enforcement of the law does NOT happen in the US of A. from: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/115736 UK NEWS SIN BINS FOR WORST FAMILIES Thursday July 23,2009 By Alison Little THOUSANDS of the worst families in England are to be put in “sin bins” in a bid to change their bad behaviour, Ed Balls announced yesterday. The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes. They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals. Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction. Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far. But ministers want to target 20,000 more in the next two years, with each costing between £5,000 and £20,000 – a potential total bill of £400million. Ministers hope the move will reduce the number of youngsters who get drawn into crime because of their chaotic family lives, as portrayed in Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless. Sin bin projects operate in half of council areas already but Mr Balls wants every local authority to fund them. He said: “This is pretty tough and non-negotiable support for families to get to the root of the problem. There should be Family Intervention Projects in every local authority area because every area has families that need support.” But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is all much too little, much too late. “This Government has been in power for more than a decade during which time anti-social behaviour, family breakdown and problems like alcohol abuse and truancy have just got worse and worse.” Mr Balls also said responsible parents who make sure their children behave in school will get new rights to complain about those who allow their children to disrupt lessons. Pupils and their families will have to sign behaviour contracts known as Home School Agreements before the start of every year, which will set out parents’ duties to ensure children behave and do their homework. The updated Youth Crime Action Plan also called for a crackdown on violent girl gangs as well as drug and alcohol abuse among young women. But a decision to give ministers new powers to intervene with failing local authority Youth Offending Teams was criticised by council leaders. Les Lawrence, of the Local Government Association, said they did “crucial” work and such intervention was “completely unnecessary”. |
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Traffic cameras, be they of the red light variety or of the speed camera variety, are just the thin end of the wedge. Big Brother is not far behind. Paranoid you say? Here is a story from the UK, the world leader in photo enforcement. Will it ever happen here? All I ask that one looks for the potential issues related to our system of governemnt and law that would be posed if such a system were to be created here while reading the story. Notice how "it is all for safety" and the distinct lack of public input while implementing the system, not to mention grave privacy issues. from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/6011285/Average-motorist-caught-on-came- ra-100-times-a-year.html Average motorist caught on camera 100 times a year The average motorist has their car journeys recorded and stored by police almost 100 times a year, new figures show, furthering concerns over the growing surveillance state. By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent Published: 7:00AM BST 12 Aug 2009 Forces across the country have expanded a car surveillance operation that will soon record up to 50 million licence plates each day. The images captured on CCTV cameras - many of innocent motorists – are stored on a police database for up to two years, enabling officers to reconstruct journeys. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that more than three billion licence plates may have been recorded nationwide in the past year. It means that the 34 million vehicles registered in Britain were captured and stored on average up to 100 times in 2008. Thousands of CCTV cameras across the country have been converted to read number plates, taking pictures of people's movements in cars on motorways, main roads, airports and town centres even if they are not suspected of a crime. Police say the system, called Automatic Numberplate Recognition (ANPR), has proved an essential tool in fighting crime. Latest figures released yesterday showed that in Sussex police cameras read and stored more than 233 million vehicle number plates last year - a five-fold increase compared to the year before. Police registered "hits" on one in every 36 of the vehicles of "interest" - ranging from those with no insurance to ones linked to known criminals. However, the huge growth of ANPR has raised concerns from civil rights campaigners, who question how long the details are stored for and who has access to the material. Charles Hendry, Tory MP for Wealden, said: "There is a balance that needs to be struck between fighting crime and infringing the freedom of the law-abiding public. "We all accept number-plate recognition enables the police to track and arrest a significant number of criminals and to make our communities safer, but these increases are really startling. "But we need to know what use is made of this information and how long is it kept for? "Law-abiding people should feel they can go about their business without being snooped on by the State. "They should be able to do their shopping or drive to the railway station without their movements being tracked on a police computer." The director of Privacy International, Simon Davies, said the database gives police "extraordinary powers of surveillance". "This would never be allowed in any other democratic country," he said. "This is possibly one of the most valuable reserves of data imaginable." Recent figures in Devon and Cornwall, which showed that 64 million images were captured in 2008, were described as "astonishing" by the local MP. Colin Breed, the Liberal Democrat MP for South East Cornwall, claimed that the ANPR system had been expanded "by stealth". Geoffrey Cox, Tory MP for Torridge and West Devon, added that the cameras were part of an "invisible network of surveillance" that had been constructed over the past 10 years. Nationally, the latest figures from that 27 of 43 forces able to supply comparable data, showed that more than 2 billion number plates were read and stored last year. The combined figure for all forces is like to be in excess of 3 billion. The highest number of records were created by the Metropolitan Police with 342.8 million, followed by Sussex, then West Midlands Police with 267.6 million. Avon and Somerset logged 21.6 million registrations last year and Dorset 16.6 million. Police have been encouraged to "fully and strategically exploit" the database during investigations ranging from counter-terrorism to low-level crime. Officers can access the database to find uninsured cars, locate illegal "duplicate" licence plates and track the movements of criminals. For the first 90 days any police officer with the appropriate authority can check the information. After that period it is only accessible to serious crime and anti-terrorism detectives.
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