Local Governments Seek To Spy On The Public

With Homeland Security becoming an increasingly larger priority among many Americans, local governments in cities across the country have been installing surveillance cameras on street corners, stop lights and throughout business districts. Small Town, USA seems to be no exception. Some of the most complex and expensive surveillance equipment is being installed in places where one would assume crime is the least in the United States. Last month the city council of Reidsville, North Carolina, approved a measure that will pay for a $99,000, 11-camera surveillance system. According to 2000 census figures, Reidsville has a population of just over 14,000, definitely not a metropolis, and lies just to the north of the much larger Greensboro, North Carolina. But, why does a small town wish to install cameras to monitor its citizens? According to officials, it is to curb crime. The cameras will be installed along the downtown shopping districts. Video footage will be beamed via a wireless network to help police prevent break-ins and vandalism. Eventually the cameras will be equipped with night vision, eliminating the need for part-time patrolmen in those areas. While any American appreciates any move to prevent crimes, most also find surveillance cameras a bit creepy. Normally, images of Big Brother flash through our minds, and we question the logic of such systems. Some dispute the right of any government—whether federal, state or local—to place their citizens under mandatory surveillance.