First Orwell Units To Be Deployed
The first four Orwellian Camera Units are being deployed in the District today, part of a set of 48 cameras to be deployed citywide as part of the DC Crime Emergency. So far, the most amusing of the comments about these new eyes in the sky comes from the Post:
Had the cameras been up, investigators could have checked whether the killing was recorded. Cameras will roll 24 hours a day but will not be monitored live.
Great. So, they’re designed to catch the guy later, but not prevent active crime from happening. Cold comfort for those whose loved ones are killed or maimed. Thanks Linda Cropp, I’m so glad you actually care about crime prevention. So, criminals, if you’d like to avoid these new cameras, they’re going to be placed at 14th & Girard, NW, the 400 block of O St. NW, the 1500-1700 Blocks of Benning Road NE, and the 1200 block of Valley Avenue, SE. Try to keep your drug deals and murders away from these places.
Five more camera units go live next Monday. When we have those locations, we’ll map them for you so you know where to avoid committing crimes.
Agreed, the whole thing is a disaster in the making.
We dont have enough cops, not enough money and too much crime. what shall we do? I have it, lets create the illusion of security. Waste resources, spend 2 million on cameras, and let the tapes roll with no one to watch.
Oh, and as per the law of unintended circumstances, the dealers and murderers will retreat from these main corners, and head deeper into neighborhoods. Threatening kids and residents at large.
Here is a question, “if cops know that these areas are bad, and are in need of a camera, why cant they police the area, and weed out the criminal element?”
Exactly, Palacepool, it’s just a matter of not being willing to commit the manpower to an operation that might reveal that the MPD can’t cope with a real criminal element in DC.
And also a reflection on the fact that we, as a society, are prepared to spend $10 on technology to catch and punish criminals but resist spending $1 on indirect prevention programs. There’s good data to suggest that community programs and recreational centers – the much mocked “midnight basketball” – cuts down on youth crime, for example. But we sneer at it even though we could run one of those programs for decades with what it takes to imprison one person for a year.
We’re not real good with cost:benefit analysis, we taxpayers…