--- Photos of Independence Hall: http://www.mccullagh.org/cgi-bin/photosearch.cgi?name=independence+hall Philadelphia police at 2000 GOP convention: http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/gop-convention-protests.html --- Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 12:28:22 -0400 To: declanat_private From: e cummings <berniesat_private> Subject: more perverse national park police surveillance declan, a couple of years ago i noticed a new, high-power, remote controlled (pan, tilt, zoom) video surveillance camera hanging in the bell tower of independence hall here in philadelphia. it was a large Burle unit--like those i remember seeing in the maximum-security federal prison i was held in without bail in 1995 (for an offense the government later admitted in writing involved "no victims.") this particular high-power video camera has a huge lens and the ability to zoom in on the smallest details--like newspaper text--far outside the confines of the small independence national park area it points out towards. the perversity of such a camera being installed in the bell tower of independence hall--a historical building in which our founding fathers signed our constitution and risked their lives to revolt against a government that failed to respect its subjects' privacy--was hard to ignore. from where liberty had once rung, now our federal government was using sophisticated electronic surveillance technology to spy on its citizens. i brought this ironic situation to the attention of a local newspaper writer, gwen shaffer, who wrote a cover story about it: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/122498/coverstory.shtml later that week, some federal park police officers i spoke with were upset about the public revelation of their new surveillance system, and claimed it would impede the system's effectiveness at preventing crime (rape was the example they gave.) when i asked them how effective a deterrent it could be if the system remained a secret, they became indignant. shortly thereafter, black netting was placed over the bell tower opening, making the camera very difficult to see. then an identical camera was added looking south. -ed cummings "CALEA's First Casualty" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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