Last week, a story about Big Brother surveillance in our sweet liberal enclave (“
Could it be that we trust our police and city to use the cameras wisely? After all, we know them; they are us. If we don’t trust them, what are we doing here?
Is it because we feel safe here and hope to keep it that way?
Perhaps it is as simple as this: The last time people took seriously the threat of state surveillance was possibly just before they paid Amazon for the privilege of putting a surveillance device in their homes, in the hope Alexa would get to know them better, and in that way be useful.
Utility is a broad category here.
Durango police say the cameras would let them “work smarter.” Sounds familiar.
The proposal will need approval from City Council. We will be eager to see whether anyone testifies against it.
There are people who would rather have more officers on the streets downtown, more visibly present, as a deterrent to crime. It is a costlier alternative. In any case, we are fortunate to live in a place where no one is squawking about over-policing. Yet.
