A new Wi-Fi surveillance camera system introduced as part of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's' Downtown Safety Initiative should be seen as a useful measure in combating criminal activity, especially when Madison's nightlife floods downtown streets.
Madison has experienced noticeably higher rates of crime in the past year, including a spate of violence around Club Majestic last summer and a steady stream of muggings and robberies on campus and around the Langdon Street area.
As part of an initiative that will place additional officers on the street to increase overall visibility, the new system will allow police officers to keep an eye on additional areas of the city. Officers in squad cars can access the video feeds via the Internet, providing an additional set of eyes on the city and the chance to better coordinate their response and logistics.
Critics contend that systems such as this run the risk of privacy invasion and really only displace criminal activity rather than curb it.
However, in large cities like New York and Chicago, closed-circuit monitoring systems have been in place for several years and have been used with relative success.
Cameras will not eliminate criminal activity, but using them in a smaller community like Madison should provide police with better means to maximize public safety. Even if they cannot deter criminals, video footage could be useful in gathering incriminating evidence to punish those accountable.
As for privacy rights advocates, the good news is that the surveillance cameras are mobile (they can be taken down and moved to criminal hot spots) and the Safety Initiative's budget allocates money toward purchasing a whopping two cameras. If the cameras prove effective, it is likely the door will open to expand the system. Whatever the case, it goes without saying that the city and police department must focus on transparency and oversight in handling the information the cameras record.
The proliferation of closed-circuit camera systems is nothing new and it is reasonable to assume that, if anything, such systems will continue to record us as we go about our lives.
As a precaution, citizens and city officials need to engage in a proper debate about how information systems are used in the Panopticon Age so that the boundaries of public and private do not become dangerously blurred.
