Caroline Sinders reports how a grassroots organization successfully fought back against the growing surveillance state. After providing a history of its expansion, Sinders reports:
In early 2019, community activists attended a meeting organized by the Independent Police Monitor, a citizen police oversight board, and toured the RTCC surveillance facility. In addition to public police surveillance feeds, the RTCC also has access to privately owned and operated cameras, under a program called SafeCam. This gives the police access to hundreds of cameras across New Orleans. “It was like going on this very eye opening tour of this camera facility for the city that honestly left all of us a lot more disturbed than when we walked in and compelled us to say ‘we have to do something,’” said Beth.
Shortly after the tour, Beth, Green, and other activists joined with the ACLU and various local organizations like the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MaCCNO) and Jewish Voices For Peace to form the Eye on Surveillance coalition, with the goal of creating a united front against surveillance.
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