A couple months after video cameras popped up on downtown streets, aldermen are calling for a hearing to see if they can be regulated.
In a proposal drafted Monday, three aldermen call for a public hearing “to determine the authority of the City to regulate electronic surveillance devices.”
Click here to read the proposed order, which is sponsored by Aldermanic President Carl Goldfield, Dwight Alderwoman Gina Calder, and Fair Haven Alderwoman Migdalia Castro.
The Independent reported last week that the West Chapel Special Services District, under the management of Brian McGrath, has erected two video cameras on Chapel Street.
The news stirred some public outcry about privacy rights, and the fear that the government would start playing Big Brother. McGrath and other proponents argued that the cameras would only be used to fight crime, and that there should be no expectation of privacy on a public street. Click here for a lively debate on the subject in the Independent’s comments section.
As it stands, the city’s Code of Ordinances does not regulate the use of video surveillance. In their order, the aldermen ask for a hearing to see what type of surveillance is permissible under state and federal law, and what right the city may have to further protect people’s privacy.