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Big Brother: Why Bother?

Luckily there were no cops in the wake of that traffic signal you just sped through. But before you release that sigh of relief, remember that someone might be watching you. Not that they are particularly concerned with your petty violation…yet. Last week Mayor Byron Brown announced that five surveillance cameras had been installed at intersections on the West Side and Chip Strip, a pilot experiment that will lead to 50 cameras installed citywide. Over the next year, a $4.4 million state grant will be used to purchase and place the extremely high-tech snoops. While many are hopeful that the cameras will deter crime and ease prosecution, some speculate that this hefty chunk of change could be put to better use. Whether Buffalonians will see less serious crime in their neighborhoods and on the nightly news—or if you’ll just have to stop running those red lights—remains to be seen. In the meantime, we set out to hear how you feel about the the city’s new eyes in the sky.

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Jeffrey Seay

Name: Jeffrey Seay

Occupation: Cleans out repossessed houses

Residence: East Side

How do you feel about the administration’s plan to install surveillance cameras throughout the city? I feel it’s a good thing [to] keep an eye on. As long as they aren’t in my house, I don’t mind. [Laughs.] But I think that’s very fair though. I’ve seen it before other places, what’s going on now, and it’s a good thing. Slows the violence in the community.

Can you think of a more effective way to fight crime in the city? More jobs. More jobs. More jobs. And not jobs that just get you by, but jobs that at least let you live, as far as [participating in] society in Buffalo and taxes and everything.

Can you remember the last time you did something in public and thought afterward, “Thank God no one saw that”? Yeah, I’m not going to tell a story. [Laughs.] Well, I might have ran a light that just turned red, and I just said “Forget it” and just kept going…things of that nature.

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Micah McKay

Name: Micah McKay

Occupation: Student

Residence: West Side

How do you feel about the administration’s plan to install surveillance cameras throughout the city? Especially where I grew up on the West Side, where there’s been all this recent violence, a system with surveillance cameras, as long as they didn’t abuse it, would probably be a good thing to start cracking down on the little things.

Can you think of more effective ways to reduce crime in the city? I think that the cops around the city in general seem to let a lot of the little things go. For instance, when you drive through Kenmore you go 30 miles per hour, because you know if you go over that you’re going to get pulled over, whereas in the city people all over the place are bending the rules. I think if there was just a greater crackdown, more cars out on the street, that would be the best idea.

Can you think of a time when you did something in public and then thought, “Thank God no one saw that”? Well, I actually just ran a stop sign over at Bidwell, so I’m pretty glad that nobody saw that.

Do you worry these cameras might violate your privacy? I don’t think so. I mean, doesn’t Google already have satellites that can look down at you?

Do you think that the public should have access to these cameras online? I think [they should remain] just police surveillance, because if these kind of videos were to get on YouTube or something like that, anybody can get a hold of it, and I don’t think that that should be allowed.

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Kathy Hussey

Name: Kathy Hussey

Residence: Buffalo

How do you feel about the administration’s plan to install surveillance cameras throughout the city? I imagine that that could be somewhat helpful. Surveillance cameras wouldn’t be my idea of a deterrent necessarily. I think that there are a lot of other things that the city could be doing.

Can you think of a more effective use for the $4.4 million grant being put toward this program? Yes. I think a lot of crime unfortunately is illegal drug-driven, so I think we could have more treatment programs for people with drug-related problems and addictions, more rehab programs and more support programs available to people and young people in particular. If we think about the crime instances happening in the East Side, in terms of the loss of young African American life, I think that is the most serious of all crimes in the city…but I’m not sure that surveillance cameras are going to do anything to deter that. I think that surveillance cameras are just kind of a way of appeasing some sort of middle-class need for security or safety. I don’t think that we care enough or do enough for the loss of youth, in particular African-American youth, so if we could do more to prevent that and do more for young people in the city I think that would go much further than surveillance cameras.

Do you think that the public should have access to these cameras online? The whole surveillance camera thing doesn’t sit right with me. It’s got that sort of police-state thing. So no, I don’t know that anyone should be having access to it. And anyway, how would that be helpful? What would people be wanting to have access to surveillance cameras for?

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Michael Wallace

Name: Michael Wallace

Occupation: Student

Residence: Amherst

How do you feel about the administration’s plan to install surveillance cameras throughout the city? I think it’s a good idea in some areas where it’s bad. But in other areas, where it’s real nice, I don’t really feel the need. I think it’s a waste of money.

Can you think of any more effective ways to reduce crime in the city? Have more patrol cars out at one time instead of just using cameras. Because I mean, really, are people going to be watching them constantly, or are they just going to wait for a crime to happen and then go back and look at it?

Can you remember a time when you did something in public and then thought, “Thank God no one saw that”? Well, umm…[Laughs.] Yeah, like peeing in public or having sex in public. Both of those I obviously wouldn’t have wanted anyone to catch on camera.

Do you think that the public should have access to these cameras online? I think the public should be able to see them, since we’re paying for them. We shoud be able to check what’s going on around the city, and I think it would be pretty cool to be able to see what’s going on, or how busy it is in a certain area, or where people are.