GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Tampa starts 24-hour video surveillance.

TheFLY · 07-09-2001, 06:41 PM

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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
===============================
For release: July 6, 2001
===============================
For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: [email protected]
=============================== Tampa starts 24-hour video surveillance
of public streets. Will your town be next? [July 6] WASHINGTON, DC -- The city of Tampa has installed a network of
high-tech security cameras on public streets to monitor everyone who
passes by -- a repugnant police-state tactic that should be outlawed
before it spreads to more cities, Libertarians say. "This program is an outrage because innocent Americans have the
fundamental right to be free of surveillance by police cameras when
they are walking in a public place," said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian
Party national director. "If politicians and police in Tampa are allowed to continue this
program of warrantless video surveillance, all of America could soon
turn into the equivalent of a prison -- where innocent people are the
inmates, constantly under observation by police who are acting like 24-
hour prison guards." Last week, Tampa became the focus of a nationwide firestorm of
controversy when it installed a permanent surveillance system that uses
a "face-printing" computer software program. Police set up a network of
36 cameras that scan crowds in the Florida city's entertainment
district and match the results against a database of mug shots of
people with outstanding arrest warrants. The company that produced the technology, Visionics Corp., bragged that
Tampa -- the first city to install the system -- "is leading the pack." But no other city should follow Tampa's Big-Brotherish lead, said
Dasbach, because: * Constant police surveillance strikes at the heart of Americans' most
basic right: The right to be left alone. "In a free country, police have no right whatsoever to track, monitor,
and photograph people who aren't doing anything wrong," he said.
"Police have a duty to arrest criminals. They don't have the right to
spy on every move made by innocent people. There's a certain zone of
privacy that people who are behaving lawfully expect, even in a public
place." * It violates the Fourth Amendment. "The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to be free of
unreasonable searches and seizures," noted Dasbach. "If the police are
monitoring and recording every step you make in a public place --
without any evidence that you have committed a crime -- that is clearly
an unreasonable and unconstitutional search." * It would allow the government to compile a vast photographic database
of people. "Police claim the digitized photos of innocent people will be erased
immediately," he said. "But government officials have made such claims
before. Americans can't trust politicians not to misuse the vast power
that such camera surveillance systems give them." The bottom line, said Dasbach: Tampa should abolish its surveillance
network immediately, and no other American city should be allowed to
install such a system. "Big Brother has arrived in Tampa -- and he's got a video camera in his
hand," he said. "But people need to let politicians know that Big
Brother is not welcome; not in Tampa, and not in any American city." -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Alternatively, you may also send a message to <[email protected]>
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07-09-2001, 06:41 PM
TheFLY So Fucking Banned Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: http://www.thefly.net/ --- Quit your job and live off steady traffic. Posts: 11,856	Tampa starts 24-hour video surveillance. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =============================== NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org =============================== For release: July 6, 2001 =============================== For additional information: George Getz, Press Secretary Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-Mail: [email protected] =============================== Tampa starts 24-hour video surveillance of public streets. Will your town be next? [July 6] WASHINGTON, DC -- The city of Tampa has installed a network of high-tech security cameras on public streets to monitor everyone who passes by -- a repugnant police-state tactic that should be outlawed before it spreads to more cities, Libertarians say. "This program is an outrage because innocent Americans have the fundamental right to be free of surveillance by police cameras when they are walking in a public place," said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party national director. "If politicians and police in Tampa are allowed to continue this program of warrantless video surveillance, all of America could soon turn into the equivalent of a prison -- where innocent people are the inmates, constantly under observation by police who are acting like 24- hour prison guards." Last week, Tampa became the focus of a nationwide firestorm of controversy when it installed a permanent surveillance system that uses a "face-printing" computer software program. Police set up a network of 36 cameras that scan crowds in the Florida city's entertainment district and match the results against a database of mug shots of people with outstanding arrest warrants. The company that produced the technology, Visionics Corp., bragged that Tampa -- the first city to install the system -- "is leading the pack." But no other city should follow Tampa's Big-Brotherish lead, said Dasbach, because: * Constant police surveillance strikes at the heart of Americans' most basic right: The right to be left alone. "In a free country, police have no right whatsoever to track, monitor, and photograph people who aren't doing anything wrong," he said. "Police have a duty to arrest criminals. They don't have the right to spy on every move made by innocent people. There's a certain zone of privacy that people who are behaving lawfully expect, even in a public place." * It violates the Fourth Amendment. "The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures," noted Dasbach. "If the police are monitoring and recording every step you make in a public place -- without any evidence that you have committed a crime -- that is clearly an unreasonable and unconstitutional search." * It would allow the government to compile a vast photographic database of people. "Police claim the digitized photos of innocent people will be erased immediately," he said. "But government officials have made such claims before. Americans can't trust politicians not to misuse the vast power that such camera surveillance systems give them." The bottom line, said Dasbach: Tampa should abolish its surveillance network immediately, and no other American city should be allowed to install such a system. "Big Brother has arrived in Tampa -- and he's got a video camera in his hand," he said. "But people need to let politicians know that Big Brother is not welcome; not in Tampa, and not in any American city." -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBO0ozSdCSe1KnQG7RAQELEAP/ZKcXQvev7ee8+siOFvZBotrVB2CfnTrS liFQ3KMqSq4kX/Pq5gfFMjbwkq38BH8vO3E0iI40j8HLuke11ajjo68+4Z4+rzhu viThpr8cv7sevkvG8dY1A0wXnYKsamgu4fyyErIH3s+ZuQtZpp jGDQLIDSirfUzo FBmGPKWgcsY= =JFG0 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/action/email.html Alternatively, you may also send a message to <[email protected]> with just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line.