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San Francisco’s plan to allow police to use private real-time CCTV cameras is ineffective in curbing crime and violating people’s rights, a proponent of controlling surveillance technology has said.
“We know these systems don’t work, it’s a political drama, but we’re paying the real price – not just dollars and cents, but our civil rights,” said Albert Fokska, executive director of the Technology Watch Project. told Fox News.
New San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has proposed rules that would allow the police department to use private security cameras and a network of cameras to monitor, in real time, “serious incidents that pose a threat to public safety” as well as ongoing felonies or wrongdoing.
Former Attorney Brooke Jenkins talks about District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s upcoming recall during an interview in San Francisco on May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, file)
In addition, the ruling will allow police to “collect and review historical video footage for criminal investigations.”
“In the past, we have seen many cities spend millions of dollars on cameras, systems that violate our privacy but do not really protect us,” he said.
Fox Kahn points out that cities like London and New York have invested heavily in surveillance infrastructure in the past but have had no real impact on crime rates.
Fentanyl is a popular street drug that gives users a hunch called “fentanyl folds” when they stand up. (Fox News Digital/John Michael Rush)
Jenkins, 40, was sworn in as London Mayor Breed last week and vowed to fight crime in the city.
“I believe this policy can help address the open-air drug markets that fuel the sale of the deadly drug fentanyl,” she wrote in a letter to City Inspector Aaron Peskin.
“Large-scale organized theft in retail, as we saw in Union Square last year, or targeted community activity, as we saw in Chinatown, is another area where the proposed policy could help,” she continued.
Fox Kahn notes that San Francisco has countless public safety cameras that seem to be doing little to contain the city’s rising crime rate.
“We didn’t realize how bad the scheme was and put in more good money after the bad debts,” he said.
Fox-Kahn said the change was not only ineffective in stopping crime, but also a violation of civil rights.
“When we have a society where everyone is photographed, our every action is monitored. This is not a democracy. This is authoritarianism,” he said.
Brooke Jenkins is expected to become the new San Francisco District Attorney after her former boss, Cheza Boudin, was fired in a June snap election. (San Francisco Fox)
“We are dropping the Fourth Amendment. We are destroying the Bill of Rights and getting nothing in return,” he continued.
Fox Kahn said the more private companies continue to work with government agencies on surveillance programs, the more citizens should be concerned about their freedoms.
“If we don’t provide protection, if we don’t carve out space for privacy, we will become a society in which I think none of us want to live,” he said. The City Rules Committee will vote on the revised proposal next week. The San Francisco District Attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Post time: Aug-11-2022
