Lots to do today so I'm off. They say "a picture's worth a thousand words". Well, just Imagine what video is worth. That's what you're getting today from me. And a news story GOOGLE coughed up for me only yesterday.
Youth. There are Youth out there who GET IT. They even say so right in their videos which they then post on YouTube, like these high school students commenting on the Security Industry, "Securicorp - Get it!".
The creator states that it's a "Project from my english class, junior year in high school". He got a "C" on it.
From the research I've done on Security, suffice to say that this Youth-produced video is dead-on!
Securicorp - Get it!
(Click here to go directly to the clip on YouTube)
Next, over the Victoria Day weekend, we went to Ottawa City Hall and Kingston City Hall to conduct a quick'n'easy citizen video surveillance "pop-in" test. Warning, do NOT try this with your own town/city hall!
[UPDATE: May 26, 2008 6:03 pm. Something happened today that I'll eventually report in this Blog but it's forced me to change the previous paragraph from "Admittedly no one should try this without an audio-recorder going for protection but... " to "Warning, do NOT try this with your own town/city hall!"]
Here's the preliminary research result from our May 20th Ottawa City Hall pop-in.
OTTAWA CITY HALL VIDEO SURVEILLANCE CITIZEN "POP-IN" TEST (May 20, 2008)
(Click here to go directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)
In a previous Blog entry, "YO! Mississauga Transit Geeks! plus ---visits to Ottawa and Kingston City Halls" I mentioned that I gave Ottawa City Hall a passing grade.
What I didn't mention is I walked right into Ottawa Corporate Security and after a while someone noticed me sitting there waiting patiently. To my eyes he looked like The Senior ("Head"). The guy beside him felt like second-in-command.
Never did get names. Never offered mine. Have to say I kind-of-liked them. Most important thing I noticed was how light and airy and open their office reception area was.
We talked video-surveillance-story but they had to cut it short because they were due for a meeting. The Senior pointed to a binder tucked under his arm. He said that if I had any questions to contact him --they'd be happy to continue the talk.
In parting he told me what you hear all the time --not just from government but also from citizens. You'd have heard the same from me at one time.
"If you're not doing anything wrong (alternative, "If you've nothing to hide") then there's nothing to worry about."
He also added something else "it's not like this is a communist country".
Here's the irony. I was GOOGLEing for "video surveillance ottawa" last night to follow up on --let's just say what I need to follow up on, and hit on an Ottawa Sun article dated the very next day! May 21, 2008!
I now maybe have a hint of the meeting he must have been going to when he had to cut our conversation short on the 20th.
City Eyes parked on You
Privacy Commission will monitor city's camera useWed, May 21, 2008
By BETH JOHNSTON, SUN MEDIAThe city has some answering to do to the provincial privacy commissioner about a pilot project for video surveillance of city parks.
The city's first mobile Proactive Audio Video system was unveiled yesterday outside the Fringewood Community Centre in Stittsville after community members complained of after-hours shenanigans in the park.
City officials hope the live-feed camera, which will be monitored at City Hall from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., will deter vandals. The device has voice capability, so the operator can tell trespassers to move along.
But the province has strict rules about installation of video surveillance in public areas. The rules limit who can access the recordings and how long they can be kept and spell out who can destroy incriminating footage and when.
"(The guidelines) are aimed at municipalities and police forces, which raises a number of questions for them to address if they're using surveillance," said Ontario Information and Privacy Commission spokesman Bob Spence.
Bob Gauvreau, the city's manager of corporate security, scoffed at the suggestion that the cameras are an invasion of privacy.
"This system only works after 11 o'clock when the parks are closed, there's no expectation of privacy," he said. "If you have no expectation of privacy, no one can infringe on your privacy."
RESIDENTS' COMPLAINTS
Gauvreau expects a return on the $130-a-night investment to rent the mobile unit.
He estimates that from January 2007 to date, vandals caused $168,000 worth of damage to city parks. City pools were damaged to the tune of $700,000 before they installed video surveillance, he said.
The pilot project is a response to residents' complaints -- and based on what's caught on camera, a decision will be made whether or not to invest in permanent cameras for the park.
"People were quite concerned with what was going on here at night," he said, noting an incident where a car was driven across a soccer field.
"We want to be able to turn the parks into their proper use. We've eliminated the broken bottles, the syringes all these other things that we find in parks."
Anything the cameras record of crimes will be handed over to Ottawa police, Gauvreau said.
"If the police request it and it's ordered by the court, yes," he said, adding that police won't need a warrant. "We release it, they sign a form and they become responsible."
Spence said his policy department will talk to city officials to ensure the surveillance camera installation is by the book. Whether the video should be shared with police is another issue, he said.
"That might be part of the conversation."
Stittsville-Kanata West Coun. Shad Qadri said late-night park abusers have been getting "more boisterous, more belligerent" and the city needs to protect taxpayers' assets.
"(Vandals are doing) graffiti, hanging out, other activities that I am not aware of that are happening in vehicles," he said.
[Ed. note: Judging from our drive down Bank Street, Ottawa has a really serious graffiti problem, much worse than anything in Mississauga.]
"If it takes something like this, then I am all for it. All we're doing is enforcing the bylaw."
Please remember what Mississauga Council revealed (OK, make that "forced to" reveal) only last Wednesday.
From the Mississauga Corporate Report:
"The Municipal Act, 2001 grants municipalities broad powers to establish a governance structure and provide for accountability and transparency of the municipal corporation and its operations. Save and except the obligation to establish a procedure for handling complaints respecting in-camera discussions, there is no statutory requirement that municipalities create or establish a complaints procedure, policy or protocol. While the Municipal Act, 2001, now authorizes municipalities to appoint an Integrity Commissioner or an Ombudsman as part of a governmance structure, these are discretionary powers. Also, there is no statutory obligation for municipalities to deal with complaints from the general public (except for a close [sic] meeting investigation) in any particular way. Accordingly, there is no guidance or direction in legislation regarding how a municipality may choose to investigate compliants such as those filed by Mr. Barber."
And dear readers, you should just SEE the 124 pages of Freedom of Information I got back just Friday. I'll be sharing them with (now that I know his name) Bob Gauvreau, the city's manager of Ottawa Corporate Security so that he can grasp the fallacy in:
"If you're not doing anything wrong (alternative, "If you've nothing to hide") then there's nothing to worry about."
Signed,
The Mississauga Muse
P.S. I'm a strong supporter of use of video surveillance cameras to assist in public safety --just so readers know. Few people know better than me the power and "voice" of video!
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"Big Brother has his hand firmly planted in our back pocket – government revenues his lifeline; unaccountability his refuge." (Andre Marin, Ontario Ombudsman --June 27, 2007)
"We must employ every possible tactic to dissuade those who try to silence us with fear" ---The Mississauga News Editorial (2007-03-24)
Want (or worse, need) to learn more? Link to MISSISSAUGAWATCH.CA