Most of the Chicago Police Department's surveillance cameras are anything but discreet, as you can see for yourself in the photograph included with a Chicago Tribune article about new plans to deploy decidedly incognito cameras. Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis told reporters the department plans to deploy about 50 hidden cameras to help enforce crime.
The reason for the upgrade is simple, at least from the perspective of the police: Criminals (including gang members, for whom the cameras originally were intended) simply keep their eyes out for the large, blinking contraptions and commit felonies or other crimes outside their visual range.
Police spokesman Roderick Drew said the department is not getting rid of the older cameras, which have blinking blue lights and the Chicago Police seal stamped on all sides, but rather upgrading:
"[We] are looking at ways to take advantage of the latest technology and devise strategies to deploy cameras. However, we won't be discussing how we do so and what those cameras might ultimately look like."
Fair enough. Why would the police want to show their hand if the whole point is to make these new cameras more covert?
Police first installed about 30 of the blue-light cameras in high-crime areas and then installed a number of smaller cameras in 2006, but it wasn't made clear in the article how many were added. Surveillance cameras also have been installed near schools and on CTA rail lines and stations.
Not surprisingly, civil libertarians are concerned about privacy issues. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, also told reporters that he's concerned about the way the city has gone about deploying the cameras:
"They use federal money so they've never had to argue for these things in a budget. They've never had to answer the question of whether these things work in reducing crime."
Still, Mr. Yohnka said he would be more comfortable about the use of such covert cameras in "targeted" situations in conjunction with search warrants.
Related Resources:
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Crime Surveillance Innovations in Chicago: The History of Police Observation Devices (PDF, Chicago Police Dept.)
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Even Bigger, Even Weaker: The Emerging Surveillance Society, update (PDF, American Civil Liberties Union)
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The ACLU On Surveillance (FindLaw)
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Chicago Criminal Attorney Directory (FindLaw)
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