Welcome to Surveillance Hell: Kings Point, New York

By on April 28, 2011 in News 27

CameraHere’s a direct quote from the mayor of this town: “Crime will always be out there,” [Mayor Michael] Kalnick said. “Do you wait for it to happen? I think no.” Emily C. Dooley writes in Newsday:

The 3.3-square-mile North Shore enclave of Kings Point is launching a far-reaching surveillance network that can compare the license plate of every car going into the village against federal and state crime databases such as most-wanted lists, stolen vehicle alerts and suspected terrorist files.

When the project is completed, 44 cameras will monitor 19 entrances into the village in what may be one of the most extensive municipal tracking programs anywhere.

The number of cameras equals about one for every 120 people in the village of 5,305 people. Kings Point, a community of million-dollar homes, sits on the Great Neck peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water.

In 2010, 19 property crimes and one violent crime were reported in the village. The most notable crimes last year were a series of home invasions, starting in November, during which women and girls were menaced.

Mayor Michael Kalnick said the tracking program is necessary to protect residents, but privacy and civil rights groups consider it an overreaching intrusion.

Read More: Newsday

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  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Don’t wait for crime to happen to you!! Arm yourself…heavily. Randomly fire on strangers…they may be plotting against you. Sure you don’t know if they are or aren’t yet…but thats the kind of woolly headed liberal thinking that could get you dead! Don’t be fooled by clever ruses…like small infants or housepets…they’re in on it too! They look innocent…but thats how they get your guard down…then WHAM! They gotcha! I recommend landmines scattered throughout the yard and tripwire activated flamethrowers. Makes mowing hell if you lose the grid map that records placement, but really you should burn that after memorizing it anyway, because you never know who might zoom in with googlemaps and steal the info while you’re looking at it!

    This message has been brought to you by the National Sarcasm Society…please don’t fire at random strangers. :-)

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Don’t wait for crime to happen to you!! Arm yourself…heavily. Randomly fire on strangers…they may be plotting against you. Sure you don’t know if they are or aren’t yet…but thats the kind of woolly headed liberal thinking that could get you dead! Don’t be fooled by clever ruses…like small infants or housepets…they’re in on it too! They look innocent…but thats how they get your guard down…then WHAM! They gotcha! I recommend landmines scattered throughout the yard and tripwire activated flamethrowers. Makes mowing hell if you lose the grid map that records placement, but really you should burn that after memorizing it anyway, because you never know who might zoom in with googlemaps and steal the info while you’re looking at it!

    This message has been brought to you by the National Sarcasm Society…please don’t fire at random strangers. :-)

  • http://twitter.com/Mark_Siragusa Mark Siragusa

    What about CCTV in the UK?

  • http://twitter.com/Mark_Siragusa Mark Siragusa

    What about CCTV in the UK?

    • feint_ruled

      There is a lot of it, that’s for sure. So much it is not possible to get enough people to even watch it. It helps the police in crime investigations as you can bring up the video for cameras near the crime scene, but that isn’t much comfort to the victim.

  • Jsawicky

    What the fuck does “menaced” mean? Where women and girls were “Menaced?!” You mean RAPED? Why would you try to sugar coat that?

  • Jsawicky

    What the fuck does “menaced” mean? Where women and girls were “Menaced?!” You mean RAPED? Why would you try to sugar coat that?

    • Hadrian999

      menacing in a legal sense would be threatening with harm without actually harming, like waving a gun or knife at someone

  • Hadrian999

    menacing in a legal sense would be threatening with harm without actually harming, like waving a gun or knife at someone

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EAPUJHWIYQJWKN7HUCSCVHKVTQ David Meadows

    I should invest in the security camera business.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EAPUJHWIYQJWKN7HUCSCVHKVTQ David Meadows

    I should invest in the security camera business.

  • Elmyr23

    Government money being spent to protect them from the poor, is probably how most of the residents feel. Hopefully its thier own tax moneyand not being given from the state. I’m sure this “community of million-dollar homes” has some of the worse violence in the state and needs it.

  • Elmyr23

    Government money being spent to protect them from the poor, is probably how most of the residents feel. Hopefully its thier own tax moneyand not being given from the state. I’m sure this “community of million-dollar homes” has some of the worse violence in the state and needs it.

  • feint_ruled

    There is a lot of it, that’s for sure. So much it is not possible to get enough people to even watch it. It helps the police in crime investigations as you can bring up the video for cameras near the crime scene, but that isn’t much comfort to the victim.

  • Outsider

    Problem is how do we monitor city hall ?

    Mar 25, 2011

    New York University | School of Law
    Anne Milgram spoke about her career in the law and prosecuting public
    corruption cases.

    http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Symposiumon

  • Outsider

    Problem is how do we monitor city hall ?

    Mar 25, 2011

    New York University | School of Law
    Anne Milgram spoke about her career in the law and prosecuting public
    corruption cases.

    http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Symposiumon

  • quartz99

    I can see this being ok in one way, and only one way. This talks about running license plates. If they only run license plates against fugitive lists and stolen cars, and then don’t save the numbers, this could be done in a way that didn’t totally violate privacy but did in fact increase security. Not that I think that’s how this will get used.

    And not that I would ever feel safe being watched 24/7 on camera. Ick. Who knows what kind of asshole with a grudge and/or stalker either monitors or has illicit access to them through their job or has managed to jack into the signal and watch the cameras from home?

  • Anonymous

    I can see this being ok in one way, and only one way. This talks about running license plates. If they only run license plates against fugitive lists and stolen cars, and then don’t save the numbers, this could be done in a way that didn’t totally violate privacy but did in fact increase security. Not that I think that’s how this will get used.

    And not that I would ever feel safe being watched 24/7 on camera. Ick. Who knows what kind of asshole with a grudge and/or stalker either monitors or has illicit access to them through their job or has managed to jack into the signal and watch the cameras from home?

  • brad

    There is something very odd about this article.

    “In 2010, 19 property crimes and one violent crime were reported in the village. The most notable crimes last year were a series of home invasions, starting in November, during which women and girls were menaced.”

    Does no one else consider the violent invasion of someone’s home, and subsequent “menacing” of females within, a violent crime? What does “menaced” mean anyway? I know the dictionary definition, but how does it apply here?

    I agree that the cameras may be a bit out of line, but if the residents agree they should be there, then I have no right to question it. As the property holders, they have the right to collectively agree upon how their perimeter is monitored. If I, or anyone else, does not like it we can simply not enter that area.

    I’m a huge advocate for freedom and individual rights. In this case, if the residents agree, I just don’t see how it violates anyone’s rights. If anything, not allowing the cameras would violate their rights as community members.

  • brad

    There is something very odd about this article.

    “In 2010, 19 property crimes and one violent crime were reported in the village. The most notable crimes last year were a series of home invasions, starting in November, during which women and girls were menaced.”

    Does no one else consider the violent invasion of someone’s home, and subsequent “menacing” of females within, a violent crime? What does “menaced” mean anyway? I know the dictionary definition, but how does it apply here?

    I agree that the cameras may be a bit out of line, but if the residents agree they should be there, then I have no right to question it. As the property holders, they have the right to collectively agree upon how their perimeter is monitored. If I, or anyone else, does not like it we can simply not enter that area.

    I’m a huge advocate for freedom and individual rights. In this case, if the residents agree, I just don’t see how it violates anyone’s rights. If anything, not allowing the cameras would violate their rights as community members.

    • Hadrian999

      Menacing is a crime governed by state laws, which vary by state, but typically involves displaying a weapon or a course of conduct that intentionally places another person in reasonable fear of physical injury or death.

      • brad

        how is that not considered violent?

        • Hadrian999

          im not a laywer but it doesn’t require any violence, just the threat of violence

  • Hadrian999

    Menacing is a crime governed by state laws, which vary by state, but typically involves displaying a weapon or a course of conduct that intentionally places another person in reasonable fear of physical injury or death.

  • brad

    how is that not considered violent?

  • Hadrian999

    im not a laywer but it doesn’t require any violence, just the threat of violence

  • Joseph Taylor

    Well its a good option to track vehicles. King point is a high expensive shore area. The houses worth millions, so that’s why just for the security for that people living in that area. Police had putted up cameras in every street on the way and rest of the sides are covered by sea. http://www.fairsandfestivals.net