A SURFEIT OF CAMERAS

Video cameras have their place: at family gatherings this
Thanksgiving weekend, for example. But the wanton use of
closed-circuit television cameras as a law-enforcement tool is a
worrying trend. Last Friday, the Toronto Police Services Board
approved in principle a $2-million pilot project to install 15 fixed
closed-circuit television cameras at locations across the city. The
inspiration comes from Britain which, with some four million of the
cameras, is the world leader in closed-circuit monitoring. A recent
innovation there has been to add speakers so that authorities
monitoring public spaces not only watch but can shout at people. This
is not a situation Canadians should be vying to emulate.

Since cameras are the norm in malls and other private indoor
facilities, it seems reasonable that they be used in subway stations,
for example. People are probably happy to have them there,
particularly during low-traffic periods. And while subway cameras did
nothing to prevent Britain's terrorist attacks, the cameras did
capture images of the 7/7 Tube bombers and assisted police with their
subsequent investigations.

However, Toronto's plan goes well beyond mass transit. Paid for by
Ontario's Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the
pilot project will place 15 cameras in public spaces, streets and
parks considered "high crime" areas. It is possible, indeed likely,
that once they are operational there will be a decline in crimes in
the immediate vicinity of those cameras. But will there be a
corresponding drop in the overall crime rate in the area? It seems
improbable. Wrongdoing is not stationary; it will simply move
elsewhere. That in turn will stimulate the perception that more
cameras are needed. And so it goes, until one day Canada too has four
million surveillance cameras -- with unseen constables barking orders.

That scenario -- of police monitoring all who happen to pass by --
invites other dangers more worrying than street crime: the
possibility that authorities will find new uses for the information
they gather. There are now voluntary guidelines for use of such
images, but the potential for abuse is enormous. Is a severely
limited victory against street crime at certain corners worth the
price of such an intrusion into individual privacy? Decidedly not.