The intrepid reporters at The Crimson White, the student newspaper of the University of Alabama have uncovered a bit of malfeasance on the part of Alabama State Troopers operating traffic cameras in Tuscaloosa. It appears the trooper in charge late one recent night got bored of watching the quiet streets and instead turned the cameras to the pedestrians in the area.

The incident was uncovered because images from the traffic cameras are broadcast on the local cable television system, presumably so commuters can keep an eye on traffic and plan their travel routes accordingly. One viewer tuned in to see, according to the White, "camera operator(s) manipulat[ing] the camera to zoom in on several college-aged women's breasts and buttocks as they walked down the street."

Joe Robinson, director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, said the manipulated camera was controlled by someone from the Alabama State Troopers Office and promised an investigation and further action on the matter. However, five days, later, the local NBC affiliate and Associated Press reported that Chris Ellis, a spokesman for the state trooper office in Tuscaloosa, refused to identify the trooper who misused the system and said no disciplinary action was planned. Yet the same day's White featured a quote from Ellis saying, "This is one thing we will not tolerate - the misuse of our equipment." Go figure.

In fact the images were used not for internal discipline but to arrest three pedestrian bar-goers in the area. One woman was arrested for baring her breasts at the camera (which presumably she would not have done had the camera been aimed at traffic or had not been there at all), and two clothed men on rather vague charges such as intoxication. Robinson was not amused, saying, "This certainly is not what our cameras were intended for. . . We have worked long and hard to get this program up and going and get it to the public for information purposes." The city has since revoked the ability of the state troopers to control the cameras.

This incident is just more proof these cameras do not really have the safety benefit touted by the police-state cheerleaders pushing for them. The streets were apparently safe enough that the trooper felt free to broadcast his exercise in voyeurism throughout the city and correctly guessed his job was safe enough that he would face no consequences for doing so. What benefits did taxpayers get for the money they were forced to pay for these cameras? There is little if any evidence that stepped-up public surveillance makes for greater safety. And as the Tuscaloosa incident shows, the ramifications for abusers of the surveillance system by insiders is nil. This is sadly the modus operandi for government employees, who are notoriously hard to fire. A number of people who record and sell footage captured by their ogling, wandering eye are taken to court either criminally, civilly, or both. That a state employee can broadcast such activity live on television and face no consequences is emblematic of the double standard between the private and public sectors that permeates the debate on privacy.

government surveillance

medical privacy

financial privacy

online privacy

News | Press Releases | Online Privacy Tools | Privacy Principles | Experts | Links
About NCC | About Consumer Alert | Contact Us | NCC Privacy Home