FC: More on park police surveillance in Philly, by Bernie S

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue May 08 2001 - 09:47:25 PDT

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    ---
    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"
    
    
    
    
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