posted on February 16, 2002 08:08:47 AM new
This is an invasion of Privacy. What do you think?
In D.C., Tuning In to the Streets
Morella Raises Worries About Police Monitoring Network of Video Cameras
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 15, 2002; Page B05
The chairman of a House panel overseeing the District warned yesterday that city police may be going too far with the planned use of video surveillance cameras, potentially threatening personal privacy.
The police department reactivated a command center at its headquarters Tuesday that would serve as the hub for video feeds from more than 200 cameras that will monitor major streets, transit stations, federal landmarks and buildings and schools. The $7 million Joint Operations Command Center was first used Sept. 11.
Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on the District, expressed alarm at police plans to create a large, government-run network of surveillance cameras from public and private sources.
Morella said in a statement that she would call a hearing "out of concern that the pendulum between security and privacy is beginning to swing too far in one direction. These surveillance programs are advancing without the appropriate and necessary public debate about their consequences."
"Under what authority are these cameras being set up? What are their exact purposes? Who views the pictures? And what are they looking for?" Morella asked.
The concept behind the command center, which is used to coordinate with federal law enforcement agencies, has been used before, including for the 2000 millennium celebration. It also wasused in April 2000 during protests of meetings by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, when D.C. police monitored street demonstrators on closed-circuit television.
The new proposal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, has not been publicly discussed.
Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said that Morella raised "legitimate questions" and that he yesterday contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), head of the council's Judiciary Committee, for consultation.
"We need to be a natural extension of public policy. Law enforcement shouldn't be had or sought in areas where the public doesn't want you," Gainer said.
The command center, which stacks dozens of video stations floor to ceiling, is being merged with daily police operations and will remain in use until police perceive a lessening of the threat identified by the U.S. Justice Department's terror warning this week, Gainer said.
Police have installed 13 cameras at a cost of $15,000 apiece near the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, Union Station, major bridges, police headquarters and other landmarks. Police also have worked out agreements with the Secret Service and FBI and the D.C. public school system to pool surveillance video as needed, Gainer said. District police are working to expand the network to include U.S. Capitol and U.S. Park Police and the city transportation division.
The 13 police-owned cameras now scan public areas automatically and can be controlled by officers. Police have not decided whether to pursue computer software that matches surveillance images of human faces to stored photos. Eventually, images could be beamed to computer screens in most of the city's 1,000 squad cars.
Gainer said police will not monitor video from non-police sources or record images without reason.
