Big Brother in the Big Easy
From the Sony site:
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS LAUNCHES HIGH-TECH ASSAULT ON CRIME
I was walking throught the 5500 block of Magazine St (one block uptown from the PJ’s near Jefferson Ave) when I saw a workman putting up a device that looked very much like a wireless repeater. The guy was very friendly and open about what he was doing and told me he was putting up surveillance cameras for the city, part of a contract to cover every block of the metro area.
Now I am well known for my stance on civil liberties, and will not explore the Orwellian aspects of this matter here. I would like to address the fact that we are putting in expensive, high tech gear to watch people when there are still huge areas without lights, irregular garbage pick up, a dead streetcar line on St. Charles Ave, and so many other more pressing things than watching an extremely low crime street. (I used to live across the street and was told by a cop I know that I was in the single lowest crime area in NOLA).
This is, like so much of the past seven months, a travesty. I am personally hurt by the return of crime to the city. I feel like shit that I do not feel safe going to a second line with the recent shootings. BUT, this shows a complete lack of ability to prioritize as well as a gross disrespect for right to privacy.
Look for them, white boxes with underslung units that contain and protect the cameras inside. according to the stats I found online they can each cover a solid 8 block area.
I intend to flip them off every time I see them.
Read the Sony article linked above, it wil make you think…..
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