Comments on: Many questions, some answers, in SPD’s first West Seattle briefing on surveillance cameras

By: The Man

The Man — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 06:56:24 +0000

How about putting some cameras up in downtown white center too?

By: Honey Cat

Honey Cat — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:09:58 +0000

This will be a great addition to help citizens be protected from the growing criminal activity that is rampant in our home area as well as what is occuring globally in this time of unrest. Thank you SPD for the insight. I look forward to the installations. BRAVO…..

By: Orcacat

Orcacat — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:00:21 +0000

This would be a great addition in assisting to help protect us from the growing criminal activity that is rampant in our area as well as globally. Thank you SPD for the insight. I look forward to the installations. BRAVO…

By: Gman206

Gman206 — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:34:24 +0000

The view from 20 feet above the side walk is not the view seen by a person on the side walk as stated. If someone was up there with a camera home many 911 calls would be make?

By: MellyMel

MellyMel — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:41:31 +0000

The concerning part of this whole episode is the project got this far with no widespread knowledge of its existence. That was a very poor judgment call or oversight. It was *so very predictable* that surveillance issues would touch on a lot of strongly held opinions.
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Now, at what seems to be an advanced stage of the project, the community discovers its existence. As with every surveillance program, ultimately one is required to trust the judgment of those operate these cameras. But already, the launch of this program shows an exercise of poor judgment.
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Whether you are pro or con camera, certainly anyone can see this hasn’t been a model for trust-building between a community and local authorities.

By: ivan

ivan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:29:56 +0000

Tracy, thank you so much for this coverage. You’re the best.

By: JayDee

JayDee — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:51:33 +0000

Again, why do we accept the explanation that this is to hopefully prevent crime or “terrorism”? They can do neither. As I have mentioned previously could these stop or prevent: A dirty bomb? Nope. A stowaway terrorist? Nope (Might show him fleeing the container yard or having a beer at Marination). A large non-radiological bomb? Nope. They will document the damage. And give the SPD a cool new toy…for free!!!
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As to the matting out: it can be turned off at will. The example was not for the cameras we have so it was Photoshopped truth (“What do you want it to show, boss?”)
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My concerns are: Privacy, the creeping police state, the acquiring of intrusive technology w/o any public insight, and the lack of discussion of the ineffectiveness/effectiveness of these cameras.

By: Dead End Marc

Dead End Marc — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:25:23 +0000

A Federally funded Homeland Security project for:
video coverage of the Port of Seattle & Puget Sound waterway points of entry, run by the Seattle Police Department installed with almost no notice.
However the Port has their own cameras….
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Early questions elicit non-informative responses such as, “We’re working on that” and non-denial denials such as, “Not to my knowledge.”

Further, these are clearly under the auspices of SPD, and privacy concerns alleviated by ‘permanent masking’ which may be removed by ‘someone’ in the SPD, on the fly, if circumstances warrant.

I’m sorry… what does that mean?
To me, that means there IS no policy, and they will make up rules as they go along AND they had to spend the $$$ before 2013 but got an extension to install a system they are sure to ‘shut down if it is misused’, with no means of an audit trail to see if that ever happens. There probably isn’t even a definition of misuse as of this printing.

Plans for cameras near ‘Golden Gardens’ (Shilshole marina is an actual ‘point of entry’ compared to Alki) yet these plans were removed because of issues involving previous policy on surveillance cameras and city parks.
Exactly what policy was that and why does it not apply to the tidal zone and park vs. a Marina and a park?

I’m not sure if reporting is lacking (I doubt it), or perhaps this is the latest large boondoggle of Gov’t Executive Branch overstepping its’ mandate.

I can sympathize with the misguided opinion, “if you aren’t doing anything illegal you don’t have anything to worry about”. Included in this is abdication of any protection for citizen’s privacy in public areas. In plain english, this is a bad idea. This is a first step on that slippery slope to someplace we ought not go.

I think that this a big expensive mistake. We ought to be spending our precious dollars in better ways.

By: Citizen Sane

Citizen Sane — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 01:00:17 +0000

The world in 2013 will be a wild and crazy place.

-Ben Franklin

By: Citizen Sane

Citizen Sane — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:59:01 +0000

Turn ‘em on. ASAP.

By: elisaid

elisaid — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:36:28 +0000

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

-Benjamin Franklin

By: Ordinary_Citizen

Ordinary_Citizen — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:04:23 +0000

@ a: I’m glad you are not a politician then. Your work would keep me very busy. It’s how our founding fathers developed our country. Checks and balances on each part. No one person should have the power to step on another person’s rights. As for my “whining and complaining” when I was attacked downtown with a camera in plain view of the perpetrator, the police did nothing to get the camera evidence. Just personal experience and regular skepticism is what I could be accused of having. Thank goodness, I still have the right to whine and complain!

By: Ulooksuspicioustome

Ulooksuspicioustome — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:07:31 +0000

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2012/aug/13/trapwire-surveillance-system-exposed-leak

It is big brother.

The police did not explain the camera’s zooming ability which I suspect is better than your eye. And how about that camera pointing toward the residences by Fauntleroy Way? They didn’t even considering mounting the camera on the north side of the pole?

By: a

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:57:30 +0000

CE- wow thanks for wasting ten minutes of my time. That was ten minutes of rambling nonsense that did not sway my opinion whatsoever. Are the cameras going to be perfect and never malfunction? Of course not! Are the cameras going to record crime and help put criminals behind bars? Absolutely they are and when you are at alki and someone doesn’t mug you because they know there are cameras there, you will be thankful for those cameras. I don’t know what kind of conspiracy theories you are into but that guy and his nonsense has you all paranoid. Keep watching that stuff and stay in your cave and think the government is out to get you. Better yet, just move to an island away from life.

By: DTK

DTK — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:39:56 +0000

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