STREET CAMERAS WORRY WATCHDOG

Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work fears
installing surveillance cameras could make George Orwell's Big
Brother society a reality in Calgary, but the city's mayor is not backing down.

Dave Bronconnier wants to escort Work on a walk through the East
Village to see why cameras are needed to thwart downtown crime,
rather than conduct a privacy impact assessment suggested by the
privacy watchdog.

In an Oct. 4 letter to the mayor, Work said he was "not categorically
opposed to surveillance cameras . . . (But) I am concerned that
people embraced surveillance as being synonymous with safety and
security when this is simply not the case."

Work was responding to a proposal that could see video cameras
installed in high-crime areas such as portions of the downtown core.

The plan is under review by the Calgary Police Commission. Before
city council debates enacting a bylaw allowing cameras in public
spaces, Work wanted to raise a red flag.

"I think the biggest concern is they don't embark on this as a silver
bullet for all crime and disorderly conduct. If they sell it to
people that 'we are going to guarantee you safer streets if you put
in cameras', it's not accurate," Work said Friday.

Work wants to know exactly how the cameras would be used, if they'd
be monitored by police and whether they'd have a voice-over function
that allows officers to speak to anyone in range of the device.

Citing evidence in the United Kingdom, where surveillance has been
used extensively, he worried they would offer a false sense of
security. Operators often get bored and distracted, focusing cameras
on canoodling couples or attractive pedestrians instead of watching
for drug dealers and thieves, he said.

Video can also be used to catch litterbugs and jaywalkers, eerily
similar to George Orwell's prophetic novel 1984 where an all-powerful
government called Big Brother observed and controlled everything.

"Do we really want that kind of society?" said Work, who warned if
Calgary goes ahead with the cameras other Canadian cities will follow.

Blanketing the city with video cameras capturing our every move is
never ever going to happen, said Mayor Bronconnier.

"We're not looking for litterbugs or people who are jaywalking or
other things suggested in his letter," Bronconnier said.

"We're talking about high-crime areas (where) open drug activities
are taking place between dealers. Crime happening literally right
outside City Hall doors. Seniors in (an East Village) building are
fearful of what happens . . . after dusk every day. Fearful of their
personal safety in their own home."

Video cameras would be just another tool for police to use to address
growing crime in specific areas, Bronconnier said.

City council has already spearheaded an extra 18 police officers for
the downtown core, and Bronconnier is going to ask council to back
funding for an additional 18 more officers at next month's council meeting.

But even with the extra help, police can't be on every street corner.
That's where cameras can help, he said.

Before the cameras go up, Work wants city council to conduct a
privacy impact assessment, evaluating how the program would infringe
on privacy rights.

The mayor has his own suggestion for the commissioner.

"I would offer to invite the privacy commissioner on an escorted tour
and walk through some of those hot spot areas and to see it first
hand," Bronconnier said.

"We are concerned about a person's personal privacy, but my
overriding concern is public safety in areas where we know crime is
on the rise."