This week’s CityBeat column is about Bill Brown’s Surveillance Camera Tour he gave Sunday to a mixed-age, mixed-race group of 18 people. I was told about the tour by a neighbor who found it on Brown’s Web page by accident, she said. It seemed interesting – and it was.
My neighbor also wrote a blog entry about the tour, of which Brown apparently took some no offense, having written is own summary of the tour.
Note: I do not “dawn” a coat and tie; I “don” it. Ooops.
#1 by Bill at May 1st, 2008
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Joe: I took no “offense” at Maya’s blog entry. I simply felt there were some elements of the tour that she didn’t highlight and so highlighted them in my own write-up. (Note: I always do such after-the-fact reports.) P.S. Thanks for the “CityBeat” review.
#2 by VisuaLingual at May 1st, 2008
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Great column, Joe, and I appreciate that you put surveillance in the context of a local crime with which readers are probably familiar.
The tour was Sunday, though!
#3 by Craig at May 1st, 2008
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Joe, interesting piece. Would you have felt better about cameras had one been positioned to help capture the schmuck who held you up back in January? That’s not a rhetorical question; I, too, have ambivalent feelings about public surveillance.
#4 by melissa at May 1st, 2008
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Craig,
There was a camera positioned to capture the schmuck who held us up. Joe and I discussed that as well with the police officer who was helping us with the investigation. They pulled the tape but the footage was crappy and dark. The guy was barely distinguishable. The cameras are there but don’t expect them to capture everything.
#5 by Julie at May 2nd, 2008
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I’m with you, Melissa. Part of me is completely against the Big Brother aspect; the other part of me would have loved to have my hold up caught on camera. Heck, it might not have happened if there was a sign indicating surveillance.