Smile when you walk along the Boardwalk — a police officer may be watching you.
Even sitting in a patrol car, 10 miles away.
The clutch of new cameras placed atop the Bandshell, Ocean Walk Shoppes buildings and on utility poles, have increased visibility of what’s happening there.
Red light cameras have reminded people how much more they are being recorded, but there are hundreds of other surveillance cameras in Volusia and Flagler counties doing most of the work, with one at nearly every intersection from Port Orange to Ormond Beach.
The technology is making the jobs of law enforcement and transportation officials easier. But its advancement also raises privacy concerns, especially with regard to what happens to the video after it is recorded. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida suggests policies be put in place for the use of video cameras, including public input on who views the videos.
At City Hall in Daytona Beach last month, Police Chief Mike Chitwood showed off the new “state-of-the art” video surveillance system.
Although no one is assigned to view the cameras full time, the latest high definition technology allows police officers to see what’s going on — even from laptop computers in their patrol cars.
“With a flip of a switch, I can see the Boardwalk from Valor Boulevard (police headquarters),” Chitwood said, as a city employee showed how the computer could be moved in all directions. The camera allows someone to zoom in close, with the touch of a computer mouse. “This technology is unbelievable.”
The upgrade in the tourist area, Chitwood said, was pursued after a stabbing death of a girl during a fight near the Boardwalk in 2009. There were some stationary cameras in place then but the fight occurred just off camera.
“I’d like to get more,” he said. “It’s just finding a way to pay for them.”
ARE CAMERAS INTRUSIVE?
Derek Newton, communications director for the ACLU of Florida, said the group believes filming public places is a concern, “but not necessarily from a civil liberties” perspective.
Instead, the agency has concerns with “what happens to the video and how long does it live.”
“There may be some legitimate public safety reasons to have cameras,” he said. But, he added, the public should be aware of what the cameras are being used for and who is watching.
“Using them to monitor who’s going to the library and how many times someone goes to the grocery store is probably not a legitimate purpose,” Newton said.
Private surveillance cameras make up the majority of video lenses in use. The value of what those cameras capture depends on how cooperative the owners are. Many video surveillance cameras only save footage for a couple of days.
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