Citywide Surveillance

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How Close Are We? Is Big Brother truly watching us? How intrusive is the government becoming in our lives? In recent years public and private surveillance has skyrocketed all over the states as a way to try to lessen the rates of crimes. This has caused uproar in citizens. Some people are for the surveillance; however, others are not. In this way it does seem that the Government has now taken a strong interest in watching over its citizens. They claim that the advances in surveillance are to insure safety among its people, but can these advances really help to protect its people? Some studies now claim that the citywide surveillance is ineffective in decreasing the rates of crimes. This is the beginning of an authoritarian regime; precautions …show more content…
Peter Maass, author of “That’s No Phone. That’s My Tracker” states that “The United States Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit, ruling about the use of tracking devices by police, noted that GPS data can reveal whether a person is a weekly church goer, a heavy drinker, a regular at the gym, an unfaithful husband an outpatient receiving treatment, an associate of particular individuals or political groups-and not just one such fact about a person but all such facts” (Maass par.8). Is the collection and distribution of this information really justified for the betterment of society or is it not? I would content that it does not in any way help to keep or advance safety among its inhabitants. Surveillance only fosters fear and paranoia in its people; this constant fear of feeling like some is watching will hinder the growth of society because people will be afraid to go out and try new things. Should they feel intimidated by being watched or given the chance to show that their actions are based on their morals and ethics? With cameras and surveillance all around, people will only increase their fears and because of this society may turn into an “Orwellian” …show more content…
In the article “ Public Surveillance from Private Property Questioned” by Andrea Noble, a writer at The Washington Times, cites the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s general counsel John Verdi who has stated that “The cameras by and large do not prevent crime and by and large do not increase closure rates” (Noble par. 25). Another study showed that the camera system used by the Metropolitan Police Department had also found ineffectiveness at reducing crime rates (Noble par. 26) This shows that the placement of cameras citywide does not help to prevent or reduce crime. It may help to calm the people, but there isn’t any reason for using an ineffective tactic just to keep the general public’s mind at ease. Criminals could also cut wires connecting to the cameras to prevent them from being seen while committing a crime. The overall use of cameras does not benefit society at
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