"Cambridge halts activation of surveillance cameras" by David Abel, Globe Staff | February 4, 2009
The Cambridge City Council has halted the activation of eight surveillance cameras in the city out of concern about who would have access to the images, what they would be used for, and possible invasions of privacy.
The unanimous vote on Monday night came after the cameras had already been installed along Memorial Drive, by Fresh Pond, near Mount Auburn Hospital, and in Harvard Square as well as Porter, Inman, Kendall, and Central squares.
The cameras are part of a controversial surveillance network designed to link Cambridge with Boston and seven other communities. The cameras were paid for with a $4.6 million grant from the US Department of Homeland Security....
Yup, MORE WASTED TAX MONEY on top of a TYRANNY BUILT on LIES!
Law enforcement officials told city officials that the cameras would be used in Cambridge to monitor traffic on evacuation routes.... Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said state officials had requested the money.... Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, hundreds of communities across the country have installed surveillance cameras funded by Homeland Security.
Law enforcement officials say the cameras help them keep an eye on potential targets of terrorism, manage traffic during an emergency, and investigate street crime. But residents worry that the cameras could also be used, Big Brother-style, to follow people going about their daily lives.
Cameras were first put up on roads, bridges, and buildings in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and Revere just before the Democratic National Convention in 2004. In the second phase, plans called for the original group to get additional cameras and for Cambridge, Quincy, Winthrop, Somerville, and Brookline to receive new cameras....
--more--"You guys getting this on camera?
