The Issues With Public Surveillance

817 Words2 Pages

Video cameras are being deployed around the nation to help with crime solving, but some people are concerned about their privacy. Having cameras to monitor public areas have shown to be useful in situations such as identifying the bombers of the Boston marathon in early 2013. There have also been issues with these cameras however, as people are concerned they are too invasive of their privacy and have been misused by police officers in the past. Some people want to find a balance in using cameras in public so that they can continue to help with crime solving while making sure they are not too invasive and are properly used.
There are some major upsides in having cameras in public places. In early 2013 two people set off bombs at the Boston marathon, which killed several people and injured hundreds. The city of Boston had cameras monitoring the streets, and was able to identify the bombers within two days. (La Vigne, Nancy) The FBI was able to catch them before they were able to carry out another planned attack in Times Square, which could have been much, more devastating. In addition to being able to solve crimes that have already happened by using cameras, we are also able to use them and the other technologies that go with it to prevent crime. The National Security Agency has reported that it has prevented several terrorist attacks since 2001 using new technology put in place to prevent the attacks. However, much of the NSA’s tactics have been criticized lately, though the majority of people still agree that it is worth it. Using cameras is also a cheap way to monitor an area. Having to employ several police officers to patrol an area can be expensive and those officers could be out doing more important jobs. When you have cam...

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...t cameras can be misused and the anti-surveillance side agrees that the cameras have a place in crime determent. There still challenges that both sides will have to face to come to a compromise however. Cameras will most likely continue to be installed in the United States largest cities and most important areas, but with growing support for privacy advocates, it seems like there will be more of a push for the laws and regulations to accompany them.

Works Cited
ACLU. "What's Wrong With Public Video Surveillance?" American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., 25 Feb. 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
La Vigne, Nancy. "How Surveillance Cameras Can Help Prevent and Solve Crime." MetroTrends Blog. N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Nieto, Marcus. "Public Video Surveillance: Is It An Effective Crime Prevention Tool?" California State Library. N.p., June 1997. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

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