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LA County Sheriff Admits Big Brother Is Here "But We Kept It Pretty Hush Hush"
"This is the future if nothing is done to stop it," is the ominous way The Atlantic describes the recent Big Brother tactics used by LA County Sheriffs to "police" areas such as Compton. Residents were unaware ("A lot of people do have a problem with the eye in the sky, the Big Brother, so to mitigate those kinds of complaints we basically kept it pretty hush hush")that, as the police stated, "we literally watched all of Compton during the times that we were flying, so we could zoom in anywhere within the city of Compton and follow cars and see people," as they trialled a new system which if adopted, would mean Americans can be policed like Iraqis and Afghanis under occupation. As The Atlantic concludes, the sheriff didn't conclude that the "wide area surveillance" wouldn't be like Big Brother after all, just that Big Brother capabilities would help to solve more crimes... so why not tryout mass surveillance?
In a secret test of mass surveillance technology, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sent a civilian aircraft over Compton, California, capturing high-resolution video of everything that happened inside that 10-square-mile municipality.
Compton residents weren't told about the spying, which happened in 2012. "We literally watched all of Compton during the times that we were flying, so we could zoom in anywhere within the city of Compton and follow cars and see people," Ross McNutt of Persistence Surveillance Systems told the Center for Investigative Reporting, which unearthed and did the first reporting on this important story. The technology he's trying to sell to police departments all over America can stay aloft for up to six hours. Like Google Earth, it enables police to zoom in on certain areas. And like TiVo, it permits them to rewind, so that they can look back and see what happened anywhere they weren't watching in real time.
If it's adopted, Americans can be policed like Iraqis and Afghanis under occupation...
...
Sgt. Douglas Iketani acknowledges that his agency hid the experiment to avoid public opposition. "This system was kind of kept confidential from everybody in the public,"he said. "A lot of people do have a problem with the eye in the sky, the Big Brother, so to mitigate those kinds of complaints we basically kept it pretty hush hush." That attitude ought to get a public employee summarily terminated.
"Our first initial thought was, oh, Big Brother, we're going to have a camera flying over us. But with the wide area surveillance you would have the ability to solve a lot of the unsolvable crimes with no witnesses, no videotape surveillance, no fingerprints."
Notice that he didn't conclude that the "wide area surveillance" wouldn't be like Big Brother after all, just that Big Brother capabilities would help to solve more crimes.
So why not try them out?
He later explains that while the public may think its against this, we'll get used to it:
I'm sure that once people find out this experiment went on they might be a little upset. But knowing that we can't see into their bedroom windows, we can't see into their pools, we can't see into their showers. You know, I'm sure they'll be okay with it. With the amount of technology out in today's age, with cameras in ATMs, at every 7/11, at every supermarket, pretty much every light poll, all the license plate cameras, the red light cameras, people have just gotten used to being watched.
Many Americans elect their own sheriffs. This is the future if nothing is done to stop them.
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Thank God I'm safe....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2frJ3e0hxPE
"There are a lot of problems with the US today, and a lot of monsters in govt and elsewhere who would drool at the possibility of turning it into another Venezuela. But they're far, far from that goal and are getting pushback every step of the way. It's still the freeest country on earth."
I always chuckle when I stumble across an American that continues to be deluded enough to post about how it's the most 'free' country on earth.
"can't see into their pools" What?
This guy needs to be fired & sued immediately. He knew that what he was doing was wrong as evidenced by the fact that he knew he needed to keep it a secret.
The invention and implementation of drones in warfare and for surveillance moves civilization and mankind's relationship with machines to a new and level. Society is now just becoming aware of the many ways drones can be misused. During the next few years mankind will have to deal with the expanding capabilities and frightening possibilities that exist in how these man-made "robot-creatures" can impact the way we live and conduct our lives. More on this topic and how it might impact our freedoms in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/01/drones-morals-ethics-possibilitie...
Drones, killer robots, and ugly possibilities is a continuation of a subject I have written about before. Blame it on an imagination gone wild or a distrust of those with too much power. Unfortunately more recent revelations about the American government spying on us, our friends, and the leaders of our allies across the world does little to calm my concerns. We must take note that technology is quickly blurring the line between drones and robots at the same time that the killing power of these machines is being ramped up, we should be afraid! To say these machines have the potential to become formidable and a danger in the wrong hands is an understatement. More on this subject in the article below,
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/11/drones-killer-robots-and-ugly.htm...
Bad news Bruce...
They're already in the wrong hands.
I ran into a friend who is a polygraph examiner for our State and over lunch we were talking about this very subject. He says our Washington funded program will be in place by the end of the year for 3 major cities. He's a high placed cop in the State police and even he thinks it's a violation of the 4th amendment.
It seems that there are a number of upper echelon police that don't like the trend of militarization and the growing power and autonomy of these 'urban response teams' and the type of people they attract. My buddy used to rent commercial space from me for a gym and a karate studio and hold CCW classes. He was also a marksman champion so this guy is not a couch potato cop talking sour grapes about the A team.
His colleague is a dept. psychologist and she told him the profiles on some of these guys is truly frightening. She said that most of them she would reject as academy trainees and a lot of combat veterans in the mix are 'hyper-motivated for engagement'.
I think I know what that means and it ain't good. I live in cow country. Our urban areas are positively idyllic compared to real deal in major metro areas so I can imagine the personnel manning the ramparts there.
How is it your friend even has a job? Polygraphs don't even work.
All you need to do is threaten or spook a person and they'll "fail".
All a person needs to pass is to be relaxed, unthreatened. Truth doesn't enter it whatsoever.
The device itself is really useless & can easily be used to frame a person which is why it shouldn't be considered legal for any purpose whatsoever.
I consider it to be the adult etch-a-sketch, the one you use for drawing without using fingers.
BLUE THUNDER had it 30 years ago