Thursday, June 07, 2012

Nanny State Becoming Minority Report: San Francisco's Pre-Crime Cameras

By Douglas V. Gibbs

In a discussion I once had with a raging liberal, the person defended Child Protective Services for taking children from families showing signs that they could be abusive, though no crime had ever actually been committed. I argued you can't do that. You can't, especially without due process, simply act upon suspicions.

"Then you want the child abused before they can take action? Don't you care about the child?"

I care about the child, but I also care that no action is taken unless a crime is committed.

Now, it has gotten worse.

In San Francisco surveillance cameras are being installed for the purpose of watching for suspicious behavior before any crime is committed.

The hundreds of pre-crime surveillance cameras being installed in San Francisco’s subway system are there for the purpose of analyzing “suspicious behavior” and to alert guards to potential criminal or terrorist activity – before any crime has been committed.

Is this as eerie to you as it is to me?

How long before American cities become like London, with a camera on just about every street corner, your every move watched, and any suspicious activity met with the full force of the authorities?

It's like the Minority Report and Orwell's 1984 all wrapped up into one, sinister, plan.

The liberal left has got to be proud of itself. It is only steps away from turning America into the communist authoritarian state the Founding Fathers never intended.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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