Civil rights activists are sounding the alarm on a new plan for 24-hour monitoring of surveillance cameras in Washington, D.C., which has been backed by the city’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser.
On Thursday, Bowser announced a new facility, known as the “real-time crime center,” which will be housed in the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters and allow law enforcement officials in the Washington metro area to watch livestreams of cameras surveilling the public for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The announcement shocked the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose executive director, Monica Hopkins, called it an “alarming expansion of government surveillance.”
Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith framed the new center — opening in February — as a way to stem crime in the area, which police say has surged across several categories as of late. The mayor said the center will make up for a loss of police resources in recent years, stating “no camera will replace a live police officer, but it does enhance our ability to be in more places.”
The center will be used by law enforcement at the local and federal level, including the U.S. Capitol Police and the Secret Service.
Smith said the center “will allow us to begin the investigation the moment we receive a call for assistance” and will be defined by a “commitment to leveraging technology and collaboration to keep our communities safe.”
On its face, that sounds good, right? What sane person doesn’t want crime addressed? But there’s a tradeoff when it comes to expansions of government surveillance. Theoretically, officials might be able to cut crime down to zero if they had complete insight into everyone’s actions at all times of the day. But the obvious downside to that — for residents, at least — would be the loss of privacy.
And while police in Washington haven’t (yet) said they want to place a camera in every resident’s home, the expansion of the…
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