Safety concerns surrounding Monday’s marathon has Boston at the center of controversy regarding video surveillance.
Boston Police Deputy Supt. William Ridge says video surveillance is a big part of the marathon security plan.
“We’ve got a lot of cameras out there. We’re going to be watching the portions in Boston, particularly the routes along Boylston Street, the finish line,” Ridge says.
That’s the area where two bombs detonated two years ago. Video footage helped authorities identify the terrorists. But some worry police are using marathon security to increase surveillance in the city.
Cameras in Boston are programmed to turn toward gunshots. While some say this is a great safety measure that belongs in every neighborhood, some disagree. Kade Crockford of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts told WBUR that while she’s not concerned about the cameras meant to survey the marathon, she is concerned about the possibility of expanding this security.
“What does trigger privacy concerns is the city of Boston installing a network of cameras, some in residential neighborhoods, that enable law enforcement to track individual people from the moment we leave our homes in the morning until the moment we return at night, seeing basically everywhere we went and everything we did.”
At a time when police violence is being scrutinized and body cameras for officers are being debated across the U.S., Boston isn’t alone in these concerns. Many cities use video surveillance in the name of safety, but critics claim that it’s an abuse of power and an invasion of privacy. Skeptics are wary of tech-centric efforts such as “predictive policing” and facial recognition. Even Chicago’s red light cameras have been criticized for overstepping into surveillance territory.
Jenn Stanley is a freelance journalist, essayist and independent producer living in Chicago. She has an M.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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