Town of Tiburon, CA to photograph every car that enters and leaves

Who said Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and Atlas Shrugged are fiction... only have to look at today to see the truth of the stories...

 

What have you got to hide?
Nothing?
Nothing to fear.

 

Well you either love it or hate it. Truly if you are one who says I am 100% legal 100% of the time, then terrific. But if you are someone who looks beyond yourself to the continued erosion of our privacy rights, 4th Amendment rights, etc., then this can be viewed as yet another significant slide down that slippery slope.

I applaud Tiburon for taking a big step forward in trying to reduce crime and protect the citizens of Tiburon. But it also concerns me, on a Constitutional level, that we yet again are intruding into peoples' privacy rights.

How long will it be before we are all "chipped" so the government can track our movements at will? As someone who has worked in the criminal justice field on both sides now for over 30 years, I have seen first hand abuses on both sides.

Don't get me wrong, when someone breaks the law, they should pay. But these days I have witnessed police come to court and literally just make stuff up to support their actions. I mean, you read their report and there is no mention of what they ultimately testify about and they say they did not believe it was necessary to document it. I am talking about otherwise unwitnessed, undocumented actions and statements where the police officer, several years later, pulls details out that are just not likely. For example, the other day an officer testified that back in 2005, on a given date and time (which he pulled out of his head) my client personally admitted to blah, blah, blah. This officers job was to document those significant admissions; he never did, not anywhere. Yet he now testifies that my client said all of this stuff and asks the court to believe him and consequently hold my client to answer for some serious charges.

This is the kind of "abuse" that I find unacceptable. I was taught long ago, if you did not document it at the time, it did not happen. That always made sense to me and still does. I am disappointed when I see the absolute disdain and arrogance of some of these officers when they appear in court. I say some, because some are also excellent officers whom I absolutely respect, admire and enjoy talking with. Unfortunately not all are like that.

 

“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” - attributed to Benjamin Franklin

 

When cars are outlawed, only outlaws will have cars????

 

No, but when guns are outlawed only outlaws' children will accidentally shoot themselves.

 

I think it's a terrific idea and wish all towns would do such camera installations. I don't have any issues with the privacy concept- I think the MOMENT you step into public view or drive your car out of the garage you've surrendered, in part, your "right" of privacy in exchange for the "privelege" to drive your vehicle down the road...to be seen by anyone you happen to pass along the way...be they real, or viewing from a camera in some remote location.

Now, if they want to start aiming said cameras into people's home windows, then it's a different matter.

 

If I lived nearby, I would drive through a couple of times a day just for the fun of it. :madgrin:

 

Damn, now I have to actually ENGAGE the "Cloaking Generator".
There goes the MPG!!!

 

Hey, what if you got some blow up dolls and filled the car with them - drive through with a full car load, then a minute later an empty car, then a minute later a full car again. Repeat this for a few days - see if anyone investigates. :madgrin:

 

Wearing clown costumes.

Tom

 

Make sure to add some of those legs and arms that hang out of closed windows and trunks!

 

If you don't like CCTV stay out of the UK.

 

I'd suggest adding Arthur C Clarke's "The Light of Other Days" to the list. In a world where photons can be traced and past events viewed, all privacy, both present and past, is eliminated. It has a similar theme, with a more thorough look at the philosophical and societal issues.

That's not the point. We should be free to live our lives without the constant oppression of being watched.

 

Y'all down under already live by the nanny state rules... so your opinion of freedom (specifically individual freedoms) is tainted with the bile of govt oversight and the malaise of an unmotivated nation in protecting those freedoms from usurping by govt authority.


It works for y'all because you ain't Americans... just like penning chickens works better at farming than letting em run anywhere the animal wants too... you're easier to catch and cull when the govt chooses to do that.

 

This doesn't need to made into a nationalistic issue. It's not like the concept of freedom is exclusively American. And, it is the land of the paparazzi, YouTube, FaceBook, Google Earth with street view...whether it's government or corporate "oversight" is moot.

 

Wait a minute... I think there is a percentage of them in the area that are doing this now... they were headed to the munch...

 

The last Google streetview of my house was so clear that they had to blur the license plate on my GF's motorhome or you would be able to read it.

 

Was that your girlfriend in the bathroom window?

Tom