The Surveillance State has Arrived… And It’s Being Implemented by Our Cities and Towns

Guest post by Leo Hohmann – republished with permission.

Cities across the United States are installing hidden surviellance cameras that track everyone, everywhere, and nobody, not even Donald Trump, is talking about this. What are the Top 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S.? We’ve got the list!

My old colleagues at World Net Daily have an interesting story up today about the city of Norfolk, Virginia. City officials have transformed Norfolk into a virtual lock-down surveillance society with more than 172 high-resolution, internet-connected cameras monitoring practically all human movement.

Of course Norfolk is not terribly unique in this regard and we have a full report below, including a Top 10 list of most surveilled American cities.

 

Multitudes of cities of all sizes across the U.S. are jumping on the technocracy bandwagon and setting up hidden surveillance cameras on every corner. They’re on light poles, bridges and overpasses, stoplights, buildings, you name it. Some are equipped with speakers so they can also listen in on what’s being said.

They claim it’s for our “safety.”

What makes Norfolk unique is a group of citizens is fighting back. They’ve filed a lawsuit against the city, which is something that needs to happen in every city that implements this technology.

A lawsuit has been filed that accuses elected officials in Norfolk, Virginia, of using a network of 170 cameras to impose a warrantless surveillance scheme on residents and visitors.

The Institute for Justice has filed the suit on behalf of several plaintiffs, charging that the actions violate Fourth Amendment rights protecting U.S. citizens against unwarranted searches and seizures.

The system allows police “to monitor the comings and goings of all drivers in the city,” the legal team said.

Lee Schmidt, one of the plaintiffs, said, “I don’t like the government following my every movement and treating me like a criminal suspect, when they have no reason to believe I’ve done anything wrong.”

Another plaintiff, Crystal Arrington, stated, “My work requires me to drive around Norfolk very often, and it’s incredibly disturbing to know the city can track my every move during that time.”

The Institute for Justice explained that in 2023, Norfolk police partnered with a private company called Flock Safety Inc. to install 172 automatic license-plate reading cameras all across town.

The locations were chosen to provide a so-called “curtain of technology,” which would allow police to watch anyone drive anywhere without knowing they’re being watched.

The Institute noted:

“Unlike traditional traffic cameras, which capture an image only when they sense speeding or someone running a red light, Flock’s cameras capture images of every car driving by, which it retains for at least 30 days. Artificial intelligence then uses those images to create a ‘Vehicle Fingerprint’ that enables any Flock subscriber to both track where that vehicle has gone and identify what other vehicles it has been seen nearby.”

Institute for Justice lawyer Michael Soyfer stated:

“Norfolk has created a dragnet that allows the government to monitor everyone’s day-to-day movements without a warrant or probable cause. This type of mass surveillance is a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

Making the violation worse, the Institute noted, is that since Flock “pools its data in a centralized database, police across the entire country can access over 1 billion monthly datapoints. That means not just tracking drivers within a particular jurisdiction, but potentially across the entire nation.”

“Following someone’s every move can tell you some incredibly intimate details about them, such as where they work, who they associate with, whether or not they’re religious, what hobbies they have, and any medical conditions they may have,” said IJ lawyer Robert Frommer. “This type of intrusive, ongoing monitoring of someone’s life is not just creepy, it’s unconstitutional.”

The scheme gives police the ability to spy on people without any judicial oversight.

Imagine walking into court to challenge a ticket when the only evidence is from a machine powered by artificial intelligence. We already know that AI allows for deep fake videos. Think of the potential for abuse here.

The really sick part of this story is that the Agenda 2030 surveillance state is being implemented at the local level. And many cities are able to pay for the digital enslavement of their residents with federal dollars as the incentive. Why aren’t more Republican political figures talking about this?

Some abuses have already been documented, the Institute said, noting just a couple of examples:

• In Kansas, the Institute reports that officials were caught using Flock to stalk their exes, including one police chief who used Flock 228 times over four months to track his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend’s vehicles.

• In California, several police departments violated California law by sharing data from their license-plate reader database with other departments across the country. And as is the case with other databases, these can be susceptible to hacking, which can reveal private data.

Comparitech looked at a variety of camera types that have become ubiquitous in U.S. cities of all sizes.

• Fixed CCTV cameras.
• Cameras accessed through real-time crime centers.
• Private cameras within the police force’s network.
• Cameras on public transport facilities.
• Traffic cameras.
• Streetlight cameras.

Not to mention, FedEx and Amazon are also spying on you each time they make a delivery to your home.

Tech writer Kim Komando reports in an October 22, 2022 article that the study even looked at police departments that access people’s private Ring doorbell data.

She writes: “Did you know that police can access your Ring footage without your permission? Tap or click here to stop law enforcement from asking you for any videos. While at it, you’ll want to disable Amazon’s shared wireless network, known as Sidewalk. Here’s how to opt out of Sidewalk on your Amazon devices.”

Using Census.gov data, this is what the Comparitech study showed:

• 44.2 million people are being monitored by 270,000 cameras.
• Atlanta was the most surveilled city, with a ratio of 48.93 cameras per 1,000 people.
• Chicago had the highest number of cameras at 32,000.
• 28 of the police departments have access to Ring doorbell technology and have submitted a total of 728 requests for access to footage in the third quarter of 2020.

The top 10 most surveilled cities in the US as of October 2022

Based on the number of cameras per 1,000 people, these are the 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S.:

1. Atlanta, Georgia – 24,800 cameras for 506,811 people = 48.93 cameras per 1,000 people.
2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 28,064 cameras for 1,584,064 people = 17.72 cameras per 1,000 people.
3. Denver, Colorado – 12,273 cameras for 727,211 people = 16.88 cameras per 1,000 people.
4. Washington, District of Columbia – 11,441 cameras for 705,749 people = 16.21 cameras per 1,000 people.
5. San Francisco, California – 14,266 cameras for 881,549 people = 16.18 cameras per 1,000 people.
6. Las Vegas, Nevada – 10,208 cameras for 651,319 people = 15.67 cameras per 1,000 people.
7. Detroit, Michigan – 8,836 cameras for 670,031 people = 13.19 cameras per 1,000 people.
8. Chicago, Illinois – 32,000 cameras for 2,693,976 people = 11.88 cameras per 1,000 people.
9. Portland, Oregon – 6,411 cameras for 654,741 people = 9.79 cameras per 1,000 people.
10. Fresno, California – 4,706 cameras for 531,576 people = 8.85 cameras per 1,000 people.

2024 is almost over and LeoHohmann.com needs your help if Leo is going to be able to bring you another year of independent news and analysis. This site is totally independent and ad free, meaning nothing is owed to any corporate or government entity. I depend only on my readers to support the reporting and critical analysis you find on this site. If you appreciate these updates and wish to support my work, you may send a donation of any size c/o Leo Hohmann, PO Box 291, Newnan, GA 30264, or donate via credit card here. Thank you.

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