Batboard

Hmmm......With the perceived "threat" coming from nowhere, I see the city of Chicago is going overboard with surveillance gear popping up all over.
And those cameras are there to make me feel "safe"?

Somehow, I seriously doubt that!

Just how can remote surveillance make my life safer if a crime is being committed and it still takes the keystones an hour to respond?

*Initial cost of city-wide surveilance: $ 247,000.00

* Making the taxpayers foot the bill while you play security guard and eat doughnuts all day....................PRICELESS!

The patriot act & Homeland security act have helpedto capture how many "real" terrorists since they were signed into law?........NONE!

The number of AMERICAN CITIZENS terrorized by the government:
MILLIONS!

The"warm and fuzzy factor for this vile act: NOTHING!

Locking away the right of the people to know what "their" government is doing is nothing more than a B.S game we are all paying for and the return on our investment has been NOTHING.

Paranoid folks unite, we all know our beloved officials would never think of trampling the rights retained by the people, that would not be right or proper.......HA HA.

Encryption is used for daily comms, it's only a matter of time before the wolf lies down with the sheep.

I wonder what the F.C.C would think if a secured ham repeater went online, I bet they could eavesdrop on it, and if they could, could we arrest them for violation of federal law as easily as they do to the rest of us?
After all, it is "encrypted" communications, and therefore "private" by the very laws that are in place.
Don't brow beat me on "the law", I know how it's written, I just want to use it in reverse and have it held up in federal court if it ever came up.

Encryption makes the law hide the criminal, but forces the lawful to fear what we should never need to fear in the first place.

Talk is not cheap, especially when it is YOUR talk that's in danger of being silenced by those that were never given the power to do so in the first place.

What part of "enumerated authority" does this government not understand?

Enumerated means numbered...1,2,3 and so on, not unlimited..........
STOP THE MADNESS, STOP THE PARANOIA, and STOP THE ABUSES!

When the cops can be trusted to always do the right thing, then I will stop complaining......But we know better, right?

If I get stopped, it's the courtesy I am extended that reflects the courtesy I extend in return.....None for me, then none for you...Plain and simple!
I am not a slave, and I do not have to take any crap just because someone has a badge on their shirt, I will always stand my ground to the end regardless of current paranoia.

They listen to me....I listen to them.

This was "supposed" to be a reply to the P25 Encryption thread..but I clicked new thread instead of reply...My applogies.

AEC wrote:Just how can remote surveillance make my life safer if a crime is being committed and it still takes the keystones an hour to respond?

Its the same as police helicopters. Not really going to prevent anything and only help in a reactive capacity. Note that the CPD don't have any helis.

The remote cams are, at the moment, strategic in nature rather than tactical. They are placed in know 'trouble spots' like dealers' corners and prostituiton strips. I've also seen them at O'Hare. They are lit up like crazy; you can't miss them. The idea is to make people aware they are being watched and, if they're 'up to something' to move along.

I'd expect them to be installed at large events like the Taste and Venetian Night in an effort to cut down on pickpockets and fights that occur every year. Don't forget, either, that they record and if the camera catches, say, a purse snatching, it will be much easier to catch the guy and maybe even recover the property.

While tactical situations aren't the primary function of the cams, its not difficult to imagine tac situations where it would be nice to have a pair of eyes already on the scene. High speed chase? Back off the squads and track with the camera. Call of a robbery in progress? Let's put a pair of eyes on the scene before the first officer arrives.

I personally think the cameras are innovative and a worthy investment. It will take time to tell if this is correct.

AEC wrote:If I get stopped, it's the courtesy I am extended that reflects the courtesy I extend in return.....None for me, then none for you...Plain and simple!
I am not a slave, and I do not have to take any crap just because someone has a badge on their shirt, I will always stand my ground to the end regardless of current paranoia.

They listen to me....I listen to them.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion.......but consider this:

They don't listen to you........you don't listen to them
They give you a boot to the head.........you go to jail

Now, I ask you, what is better? "Being a slave" to "the man", and relatively free to go about your life, liberty, and the pursuit of your happiness? Or............ being a slave to Tyrone in the shower?

In the end, you are better off on the outside, if you ask me. So, don't let your revolutionary zeal get in the way of good sense. Your sphincter will thank you.

far be it for me to turn this discussion sour - but........

surveillance cams are nothing new.

ever been to a shopping mall? you know how many cameras CAN be on you at any given time? (not that they are... but they are there)


britain uses cameras EVERYWHERE. i don't see any big problems there - other than crime prevention and apprehension.

since i am not a law breaker, I have no problems with them. I guess the paranoid can :o about them - but again... if you aren't breaking the law - who cares?

now, put them across the street from the porn shop and adult club - and you might have a case there - unless of course you had a high crime rate/drug dealing etc.

you should be more worried about jackasses walking around with camera phones than permanent mounted surv cams....hell, anything they take can literally be anywhere in the world in a few seconds!

oh, and to make more trouble:

fisher price and their line of baby monitors have bugged more houses than uncle sam could have ever imagined!


d

In response to kmoose; I'll take trip to the courthouse to file a criminal charge against that cop if he feels the need to kick me in the head.
If I'm at home, I will be forced to defend myself, and I have a right to do so as I would be in danger of bodily harm, and I will not allow myself to be beat on by anybody, and I don't have to.

Cameras, sure they can be good, but what about controlling the misuse of them as well?

Remote spying, using them to look into windows......the list goes on.

Seeing the trouble before placing a cop in the area can place a victim in a potentially more hostile situation. And we know how well they reacted to the riots in CA., don't we...They abandoned their duty and left the people to finish the job.

I don't care about mall cameras as they are useless outside the building and don't have an arm of the govt. attached to them like those placed on poles around the city.

London has seen crime increase, and not decrease because the cameras were in place, that doesn't deter anybody and the facts bear this out.
Sure, you can watch, but if the end result is the same; is it not a waste of money for a surveillance system that provides little to no benefit for those being watched?
Where I go and what I do are not the cops business, and yes, I do mind if they are viewing me.
The ring of "crime prevention" is hogwash, they can't prevent crime, people can and do.

Maybe we should place ATV cameras looking at the cops, and record what they are doing, would they complain?
I know they would, and youknow it too, because they could not have control over what was being viewed, and therefore, not able to shut them off if they are caught doing anything illegal.

No wonder why cops hate camera toting people(see Rodney King here).
When they know they are bing taped, they act responsibly, but when they are not being watched, the gloves come off and the brutality begins(see Amadou Diallo here).

I use a digital recorder on the dash with a remote mic. if I get stopped, it's my little piece of insurance I can play to my attorney if I have a need.
My bumper sticker tells them up front I record, so they have been pre-warned, and the recording can be used as evidence just like they do, it works both ways.

Surveillance belongs in spy novels and movies, and NOT in American life.
I've gotten out of problems due to my recordings, and I will keep doing this as long as cops carry guns.

Not to mention a 50 watt VHF or UHF signal locks up radar units so they can't target me.....Thank goodness for the RFI LED on the units.

Cameras placed in known "hot" spots may be of use, but they will simply move to a new location and start over again.

Paranoia in this country is growing daily, and it's a shame so many simply hand over their rights and freedoms to the police for a penny's worth of useless 'security'.

How many cameras are 'okay' to you?
10, 20, 1,000.....10,000?
Wait til they make a law that lets them place a few IN your home, so they can "keep you safe"...would you go along with that as well?

Welcome to dictatorship by election, King George presiding(laugh, cough).

It's happening right under your nose, and you agree to it.
It will only get worse, never better.

I question their motives, and prepare for the worst.

How long before "papers" are required to travel to different states?

This is really offtopic but...

There's London, and on the otherhand, Sydney has seen HUGE descreases in muggings and assaults in areas protected by cameras. YMMV.

We've been a lot looser with off topic posts lately, but I think this one is a little too far out of the ball park, especially for the Astro Forum.

Thanks!