CCTV Surveillance Not so 'Temporary'

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/insideolympics/archive/...

By Jeff Lee, Inside the Olympics column, Vancouver Sun, April 3, 2009

Well, that didn't take long.
Last Thursday Vancouver council wrestled with another one of those ethical debates about privacy versus big brother. They had to decide whether to accept up to $435,000 in provincial money for a "temporary" closed-circuit camera system for the Olympics.

Hmmm . . . privacy or government money for cameras . . . a city free of electronic eyes or manna from heaven before an election . . . hmmm.
Yes, city council agreed to take the money and run, with the promise that after the Olympics the cameras will be taken down.

(They also agreed to request the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit provide the remaining $2.1 million for the project.)

Civil libertarian types vehemently disagreed with the proposal, saying it violates the public's right of free assembly. They also doubted it would just be around for the Olympics.

Hate to say they told you so . . .

On Friday, the province issued a press release saying it was handing out $1 million to four cities to help install CCTV systems. Vancouver gets $400,000.
But read how the province describes the project:

VICTORIA - Four cities will share $1 million in new closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring technology trained on high-crime areas they identified in proposals submitted to the Province, Solicitor General John van Dongen has announced.

"Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna and Williams Lake each presented strong cases for how and where CCTV can help to significantly reduce violent and nuisance crimes - both in high-crime locations and in special-event situations," said van Dongen. "We're providing this funding because we believe people have the right to feel safe wherever they go in these cities."
Vancouver's portion goes "toward a re-deployable CCTV unit for special events and emergencies."

It is instructive to note that nowhere in the press release was there any mention of the 2010 Olympics.

That's not exactly the way the deal was pitched to Vancouver council, according to a report issued at the March 26 meeting. The plan called for the city to put temporary cameras at the city-run "live sites" during the Games, and for the Integrated Security Unit to put cameras in the entertainment district and cruise ship terminal. Not in other parts of the city. Not in residential areas.