美国国家公共电台 NPR Newark Police Camera System Relies On Residents, Stirring Privacy Concerns

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Newark, N.J., is taking the concept of a neighborhood watch to a whole new level. They've installed hundreds of cameras around the city to create a virtual block watch. But as New Jersey¹ Public Radio's Karen Rouse tells us, some people don't want to be under surveillance.

KAREN ROUSE, BYLINE²: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says the new cameras replace the old system that was wiped out during Hurricane Sandy. He says these cameras are different.

RAS BARAKA: These cameras are going to be watched, they're going to be watched by our police department. But we're also recruiting our neighborhood and our residents to participate and engage with us to watch their neighborhoods as well.

ROUSE: But that engagement goes well beyond the residents. Newark's virtual patrol allows literally³ anyone on Earth with an email address and Internet connection to watch whatever activities the cameras capture - cars driving through intersections⁴, a young woman leaving a corner store, kids hanging out on a street. Sixty-two cameras are already in operation. By January, there will be 300 that anyone, anywhere can watch, like Adam Schwartz. He's a senior lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties nonprofit in California. I called and talked him through the Newark Police Department website.

ADAM SCHWARTZ: All right, so I'm just creating my account.

ROUSE: And within seconds, he sees a list of locations for the cameras.

SCHWARTZ: So I can click on one of these cameras and then see what's going on.

ROUSE: Schwartz says such easy access to the cameras could have a chilling effect on civil liberties.

SCHWARTZ: There are people who if they are invited to go to a demonstration⁵ and they see that one of these blue cameras is up, they might decide they don't want to show up.

ROUSE: And it could put black and brown people at risk for being targeted.

SCHWARTZ: It's lower income and minority communities where these technologies are deployed⁶, and they lead to more arrests.

ROUSE: It's a concern for Newarkers like Linda Carter and Josie Gonsalves. I asked them to meet up with me at Raman's Boulevard and Broad Street. That's one of the 62 blocks being monitored by a surveillance camera. We gathered in front of a tax office and watched on my iPhone as the cameras panned back and forth⁷.

JOSIE GONSALVES: Those white things - those are the cameras? I can see his umbrella.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We're in H&R Block.

GONSALVES: I can see you.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah, that's us.

LINDA CARTER: That's us.

GONSALVES: I see you and his umbrella.

CARTER: Here's my red coat.

ROUSE: After the initial thrill of spotting themselves on my iPhone via the Newark Police Department website, Carter expressed dread⁸.

What do you think about that, being able to see yourself on a camera that anybody can log in?

CARTER: I'm very, very concerned. People are collecting information. It's like we're taking our power away as citizens because we don't get to opt⁹ out, and everybody else can use it for whatever reason, whether it's good or bad.

ROUSE: Gonsalves says it changes how Newarkers like her will carry themselves in public.

GONSALVES: We as citizens, the whole way in which we engage with each other, we're constantly watching ourselves, watching our neighbors, and everyone becomes a suspect.

ROUSE: Not everyone finds the cameras bewildering. Some residents say violent crimes like murder are still common, and the cameras add a layer of protection.

STEVE SURFARO: This is taking see something, say something to a whole other level.

ROUSE: Steve Surfaro is an official with the Security Industry Association, a trade group that represents companies that build security and surveillance systems. He said he doesn't think the resolution is clear enough to cause concern.

SURFARO: What you're able to do is to see people. You're able to see vehicles. You can see weather. But you can't really read license¹⁰ plates, and you can't really recognize faces.

ROUSE: He says the cameras can capture activities where the public can help, like spotting a fire or a crowd gathered around someone in distress¹¹. One downside, though, is that the public could misread what they're seeing, like mistaking someone handing off a book to someone else as a drug deal. Mayor Baraka says Newark is installing signs to let the public and the criminals know they're being watched. And he says that's not so unusual these days when cameras are in stores and on people's homes.

BARAKA: What we're trying to do is really compile and organize all of this to give us the opportunity to stay ahead of some of the violence and crime that's happening in the city.

ROUSE: So far, the city says more than 1,600 people have registered on the police department's website. That's 1,600 more sets of eyes watching the streets of Newark.

For NPR News, I'm Karen Rouse.

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

9 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

10 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

11 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。