An affluent local resident who apparently has invested in the surveillance camera business last week sought to bring Big Brother to our community by bestowing ten wireless cameras on the Vero Beach Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Office.
These cameras, we were told, are to be the start of a network of wireless surveillance cameras that will be installed in Vero Beach and around the county, beaming live footage that can be accessed via the internet.
Gosh, we really must be slipping on our local government coverage. We hadn’t even realized that the Vero Beach City Council and the Indian River Board of County Commissioners had voted to create networks of surveillance cameras.
Oh, wait a minute. It turns out that the first our local officials had heard of this was when the Vero Beach Police Department hosted a press conference to let the camera system’s manufacturer tell about the gift from a relative newcomer to Vero, George Shinn.
Shinn, who was out of town and not able to make it to the news conference, received strong support for his gift of the cameras from John Walsh, longtime host of America’s Most Wanted, who has installed 17 of the surveillance devices around his massive ranch west of town – and by the way done endorsement commercials for the camera company.
When we visit cities like New York or Washington these days, we assume every movement is captured on government-monitored camera systems. That’s simply a sad reality of modern life in cities grappling with very real threats to homeland security.
And when we enter a bank, or even a convenience store, we know we’re on camera and we understand why.
Private property owners use cameras to monitor the security of their business and homes, and are well within their rights to do so.
If Walsh wants to have every corner of his property videoed night-and-day, that’s his business.
But for the most part, when it comes to day-to-day life in our quiet seaside community – strolling along the beach or visiting a playground or Riverside Park with kids and grandkids – we like the idea that we are enjoying a private experience with family and friends.
Vero Police Chief David Currey said he expected no problems when the deal is presented to the City Council next month, because these initial five cameras – a gift supposedly valued at $25,000 – involve virtually no cost to the city.
But cost is not exactly the point. The real question is: Are law enforcement officials the ones to decide whether our community should be taking this major step down the road of creating a city and countywide network of surveillance cameras?
Has fighting crime really become such a big challenge here that we are ready to accept a greater invasion of our privacy?
We hear a lot these days about Keeping Vero Vero.
Well, we don’t think an expanding network of surveillance cameras is consistent with that mantra, and hope the City Council – and the County Commission – will have a serious conversation about this before the first of these devices is deployed.
