Would Anyone Care If Brooklyn Were Filled With Security Cameras?
Just a day after news that the city is moving forward with plans to significantly increase speed cameras in school zones (and much darker reports of a secret NYPD spy cab), a new poll indicates that not only do Brooklyn residents not really care if they’re being quietly placed under surveillance, but 81 percent of locals actually want more security cameras installed throughout the borough.
“Maybe they like that, walking on the street, someone is watching over them,” suggested a spokesperson for the Quinnipiac University poll.
And sure, why not. The numbers may be a bit higher in Brooklyn, but it’s all reflective of the national consensus on surveillance, which seems to mostly be that no one really cares. And it’s particularly hard to argue against Bloomberg’s current plan, which focuses on targeting speeding in the city’s 100 most dangerous school zones, and has already resulted in a notable increase in speeding tickets—over the past year, violations in Williamsburg’s precinct jumped from 50 to 180, Greenpoint’s rose from 358 to 396, and numbers in Bed-Stuy went from 63 to 143. If there’s one political cause it should be easy to rally people behind, it’s probably “children shouldn’t be hit by cars on their way to school.” That, and apparently “the government can film us as much as it wants.”
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
