Thursday, October 25, 2012

Surveillance in Atlanta?

When I read about the Cold War, I always have this dark feeling coupled with very serious images. The threat of extinction, new-found exploration of space, all of these things made the era a very deviating time to live. You can probably tell by my tone that it's quite dramatic to me! The other idea that emerged was the frightening concept of a government with totalitarian control, as seen by Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union.

Now let's get local, and unfortunately feelings of the totalitarian concept have as well gotten "local." In the Atlanta Police Department,  four officers are now obligated to sit in a room and view the pedestrians on televised cameras from a room the entirety of the day. Just today, a man was arrested for stealing the computer-bag of a pedestrian and unsuccessfully getting delayed, the police came after him upon request of the Video Observation Center.

The reason I described these events as feelings, is because I realize they're not at all near close to the Cold War. A widely held view is that  idea of realism, that humans are by nature, beasts needing to be controlled. Those who can behave with the practical norms of society, would embrace the rid of "the dangerous." However, this event still is allusive to government methods of total control, being able to monitor citizens at any measures to prevent crime.This event still resembles one of the curses of technology, potential surveillance.

What's the difference between watching the streets of a city and monitoring cell phones, if both can be justified as able to prevent crimes? If methods such as these became extensively popular because of the human fear of danger, the government would have the right-a-way to become more interventionist in citizens lives. Their methods are usually covert to the conscious, making them not able to bother the people. However, one mistake or one accidentally said statement, and you could be considered a criminal. One misunderstood joke, and preemptive action could be taken against you, just because the government could.

In my opinion, it's a progressive action that this practice is in place in Atlanta. Serious crime occurs in the city, and justice is being done if safely-behaving people are being rewarded for their commitment. My description might be apocalyptic, but it's always good to preempt consequences! You can trace the government's preemptive back to Economos's ideas of "fear." ;)




Source - http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/big-brother-atlanta-tries-to-thwart-crime-with-vid/nSnLr/

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