Cameras in Public Places
There are three issues I’ve been wanting to comment on, but because I see all three as related, I’ve been looking for the right moment. I think this story, about cops caught on speed and red light cameras, gives me the right opportunity.
The three issues are:
- Videotaping (or otherwise recording) police performing their duties
- Security cameras in public places
- Red light and speeding cameras
Nobody likes to get caught by the cameras, no matter what. Civil libertarians, with whom I am usually in agreement, object to many instances of cameras as excessively invasive. Many of the same people strongly support the right of the public to record police officers carrying out their duties as well.
I take the view that when a camera is recording me in a public place, I don’t have an expectation of privacy. If you stick your camera in the window of my house, that’s something different. But if I’m walking down the street, or driving my car, and a camera catches me, I see that as no different from having an eyewitness do so. Except, of course, that the camera is likely to be more accurate. Indeed, if I was accused of a crime, and was nowhere near where it took place, I’d love to find a camera that had a clear picture of me not being where the crime took place!
Similarly, I think the more law enforcement actions are on film, the better. That way we can verify true accusations and refute false allegations more effectively. There is a complaint of poor quality video taken by citizens. Newer devices will change that somewhat, though they won’t change point of view, or get citizens to hold the device more steadily. The best response here, I think, is the one many police departments are taking–record everything.
So even though I’d rather not get caught rolling through that red light just after the yellow, I prefer the accurate record of the device, which I would trust over a human’s observation, and I also prefer the consistency.
As for the original story–officers caught by the cameras–I would suggest that if there are valid exceptions, the department needs to deal with it. The Baltimore rules sound pretty restrictive to me, but then I’m no expert. I’d like to think the officer responding to a bank robbery without his lights on (for good reason, I assume) would not be fined for speeding. If he’s in his own car on private business, or if he’s going from one place to another on routine business, then he needs to obey the law, as do I.
And whatever we’re doing in a public place, we might be seen, whether by camera or by human observer, and we should simply expect it.
(HT: Dispatches)
Related articles
- More Fights Over Red Light Cameras (reason.com)
- Cops Don’t Like Red Light Cameras Either (pixiq.com)
