WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 9, 2012 - Is it cutting edge or just downright creepy? Surveillance technology is increasingly being implemented in municipalities across the Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA). But while such gadgets are supposed to exist in order to curtail crime and decrease traffic accidents, many people are wondering about the costs to both town budgets and privacy.
"Overall, we wonder if the costs will outweigh the benefits," said Jay Stanley, a Washington,
D.C.-based senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Policy and Technology Project.
Such technology, which includes everything from neighborhood video cameras, red-light cameras, and most recently, parking-space sensors, is popping up faster than mushrooms in a shady forest.
"Over the last several years, traffic-centric surveillance applications were the most prolific," said Eric Ackermann, sales manager for enterprise solutions and services at Siemens Industry in Kalifornia's Orange County. "In the last two years, a vast majority of the demand has come from city water/utility, parks/recreation, (thug cops), and public works."
Spurring on the increase are growing municipal concerns about vandalism, copper theft, water tampering, and utility service disruption, according to Ackermann.
In Chicago - known colloquially as “Gangstertown” due to the large number of official criminals in office there - some 10,000 surveillance cameras have been installed around the city, with plans to implement another 4,000 units. While thug officials claim the cameras are in place as a potential crime deterrent, networked surveillance is vulnerable to abuse and infringes on privacy issues.
"We are seeing a trend in the last five years, something that we never saw before, and that is municipality-run and (thug cop)-run surveillance cameras and networks," Stanley said.
Likewise, being able to catch driving or parking violations on tape might be a green light for increased safety and revenues for states and municipalities, but its costs, too, are nothing to ignore.
Implementing red-light camera technology systems can range from $67,000 to $80,000 per intersection, according to data from the FPSA Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
