Bel Air, Maryland — Officials in Bel Air have authorized taxpayer money for a growing network of Verkada surveillance cameras capable of monitoring activity throughout the Town. According to the Town’s own records, the Verkada system includes 24/7 recording, live streaming, AI-powered video searches, real-time monitoring and license-plate recognition capabilities. At least 18 cameras were already installed earlier this year, with additional surveillance equipment proposed.
Supporters of the program argue: “But they work.”
That misses the larger question: At what cost to the privacy of law-abiding citizens?
Government should not normalize the constant recording and tracking of people simply because they drive through town, go shopping, take their children to dinner, attend church, visit a doctor or go about their everyday lives. The Founders of our country would be alarmed to see a community like Bel Air accept the never-ending creep toward a government surveillance state in the name of convenience.
WE SUPPORT OUR POLICE — NOT MASS SURVEILLANCE
Bel Air has an outstanding police department with a long history of solving crimes and protecting the community. Suggesting that police cannot effectively investigate crime without building an expanding network of government-controlled surveillance cameras ignores decades of successful police work before these systems existed. Technology can certainly assist law enforcement. But there must be limits.
Government should not have unlimited ability to monitor, search and reconstruct the movements of ordinary citizens who are not suspected of committing a crime.
TAXPAYERS SHOULD NOT SUBSIDIZE PRIVATE RETAIL SECURITY
Retail theft is a serious problem, and criminals should be arrested and prosecuted. But companies like Target, Best Buy, Dick’s and other major retailers also have a responsibility to invest in their own security and loss-prevention programs. Bel Air taxpayers should not be forced to sacrifice their privacy so that government can build an increasingly sophisticated surveillance network to help combat private retail losses.
Go after the criminals. Support our police. Protect our community. But don’t treat every citizen like a suspect.