SURVEILLANCE Alameda County District （监视阿拉米达县地区）.pdfVIP

Police Surveillance “In the months ahead, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will test an unmanned, remote-controlled surveillance plane.” —Wired News (June 19, 2006) ew developments in police surveillance are getting a lot of attention. Many people are, of course, impressed by the eye-popping gear which, not long ago, was Navailable only to science fiction writers. But more importantly, today’s surveillance technology is making a difference. For example, surveillance cameras on city streets and in crime-ravaged neighborhoods help provide a safer environment because criminals prefer not to have an audience, especially one that might include officers and jurors. As one commentator observed, “With their long-range and wide-area monitoring capabilities, surveillance cameras have a significant deterring effect, and have helped police foil many of the crimes that take place in public such as vandalism, mugging, car theft, drug distribution, and drive-by shooting.”1 As a result, surveillance cameras are becoming somewhat commonplace, especially in cities. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “The trend is unmistakable in the Bay Area: San Jose is seeking four cameras downtown. Oakland recently bought about a dozen. Pittsburg has installed 13 cameras, plus a live-monitoring room.”2 Surveillance technology is also making it much easier for officers to follow people who are under suspicion. The old “follow that cab!” maneuver has been superseded by GPS trackers and FLIR-equipped police helicopters. Then there are night-vision binoculars, thermal imagers, sonic gunshot locators, facial-recognition software, and much more. Still, some people worry about today’s surveillance capabilities. We are not concerned here with people who resent any effective method of police surveillance, such as career criminals and so-called “privacy advocates.” We are talking about people without an