Andrew Monette

Nathan Cole
ENG 2010
29 July 2017
Safety in a Modern Society

The basic role of the United States government is to establish justice by ensuring that all

its citizens receive what is due to them and to ensure domestic tranquility, meaning that the

laws of the country are enforced and that American society is a safe one. With recent

implementation of security cameras in major cities, people are starting to question if the federal

government is overstepping its own jurisdiction and violating a fundamental right to privacy.

Nearly everyone has read the famous 1984 by George Orwell. The book shows the negative

impact of over-surveillance of a population and how too much governmental control can lead to

a lack of freedom. It is easy to view the government as a boogieman, given the way

surveillance is portrayed in media, but it is important to consider the reason for a government to

monitor its constituents.

Security cameras are mostly found in retail stores and parking lots, however they are

now finding their way into major cities such as London, Hong Kong, New York City and even in

the small suburb of Elk Grove located in Sacramento, California. There are security cameras

located in many parks of the town and also in areas prone to crime. City officials have installed

more than 30 cameras in parks across the city at a cost of $10,000 per camera. (Henn, 1) The

parks and recreation department plans to add more as the budget allows it. The question that

needs to be asked is why these cameras are installed. These cameras are great for monitoring

specific scenarios and even helped catch the two Boston marathon bombers back in 2013.

Although the camera that helped build evidence was a private camera belonging to Lord &

Taylor located across the street from the attack. Authorities used the footage to identify the
suspect according to a Boston City official. (Horwitz, 2) This is a great argument of having

cameras in the right place for the right reason. These cameras do not have opinions or faulty

memory. They record the facts and help enforcement agencies reach the correct decision.

All of this isnt to say that cameras should be everywhere. The government should not

install cameras in your homes or businesses, as that would violate a fundamental right of

privacy. I feel that these cameras do have a role to play in public spaces such as parks or

sidewalks and intersections. You have a reasonable expectation that someone will be able to

see you while youre laying in the park or crossing the street, why not a camera? Being

observed in public does not violate your privacy because well, youre in public. It is silly to think

that you wont be observed while youre out and about. According to a Rasmussen report, only

23% of Americans feel that their privacy is violated by security cameras. This survey also

included cameras found in their workplace among public security cameras. It is clear that most

Americans do not feel that these cameras violate their privacy. According to a poll run by the

New York Times, 78 percent of people said surveillance cameras were the way to go to prevent

future tragedy.

Surveillance for the right purpose can be a very beneficial tool for a successful society.

The role of government related to surveillance is to ensure domestic tranquility. It is the duty of

government to enforce its laws and to protect the citizens it has domain over. Public security

cameras help to achieve this goal efficiently as well as accurately. Entirely new industries are

being born as a result of this technology. These industries can help enforcement agencies to be

more efficient. One such company is 3VR. The company offers facial recognition, license plate

readers and even object based searches. The CEO of this company, Al Shipp says that [There]
are search arguments you can do with our technology and literally sort through weeks of video

in a few seconds. (Henn 2) The footage obtained from these cameras can be considered

invaluable in some cases, because camera footage cannot lie or misremember. It depicts

exactly what took place and where. While it is true that you have a right to privacy, you do not

have a reasonable right to privacy when you are out in public, whether you are walking on the

street or hanging out around a park. Its reasonable for someone to observe you while you are

doing either of those things, why would it be unreasonable for a camera to do the same?
 Works Cited

Henn, Steve. "In More Cities, A Camera On Every Corner, Park And Sidewalk." NPR. NPR, 20

June 2013. Web. 29 July 2017.

Landler, Mark, and Dalia Sussman. "Poll Finds Strong Acceptance for Public Surveillance." The

New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 July 2017.

Loeb, Sari Horwitz Vernon, and Jerry Markon. "Boston Marathon Bombings: Investigators Zero

in on Possible Suspect." The Washington Post. WP Company, 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 29

July 2017.