Authorities use crime-fighting surveillance cameras to monitor residents

Public housing authorities are using surveillance cameras intended for reducing crime to monitor tenants and evict them, according to a Washington Post report.

The cameras, some of which use facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence, are provided to public housing agencies by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via grants aimed at monitoring crime.

But in several places throughout the US, housing officials use the cameras to surveil their residents. The HUD says this does not violate the terms of the grants.

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, cameras are used to monitor tenants’ doorways to determine if they are violating overnight guest rules. Tania Acabou, a single mother with two jobs, had her ex-husband watch their two children in her apartment while she was at work. Based on camera footage, authorities assumed her ex-husband was living there and served her an eviction notice.

“It got to the point where it was like harassment,” Acabou said. “They really made my life hell.”

In Rolette, North Dakota, officials have installed more cameras than there are residents, approaching the number of cameras per capita installed in the jails on New York’s Rikers Island. In Scott County, Virginia, surveillance cameras installed at housing facilities monitor all foot traffic for people banned from public housing.

52-year-old Melanie Otis, who suffers from vision loss, lent her key to a friend for a grocery delivery. When it was caught on camera, Otis was nearly evicted.

When cameras caught a man spitting in a hallway, it was used to evict him from the facility. The same occurred when cameras recorded a woman removing a cart from a laundry room.

There are 1.6 million public housing residents. They are among the nation’s poorest and most underserved citizens.

The Washington Post’s critical eye towards the liberal use of surveillance cameras is surprising given the publication’s strong support for “smart cities”.

Smart cities employ technologies that collect data on the environment and residents to supposedly improve city operations. Some see the concept as a violation of privacy by authorities, particularly since these advanced technologies — which are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) — are often inconspicuous and operate incognito.

In an article titled, “Smart cities pilot a revolution for prosperous living” the Washington Post takes a different tone on widespread surveillance:

Smart city programs can help residents by providing digital ‘eyes and ears’ to infrastructure, using information and communications technology that monitors the safety and operations of energy and water systems, transportation networks, human services and law enforcement operations.

The “digital eyes and ears” referred to in the article include LED street lamps, which globalist authorities and proponents of smart cities tout as being environmentally sustainable.

Philips Lighting, one of the world’s leading lighting brands, sells LED lamps for smart cities which are outfitted with WiFi and can connect to the internet. According to Philips’ website, they also appear to conduct surveillance:

Smart cities use the latest innovations in the Internet of Things to become more livable, resilient, economically sound, and sustainable. Smart sensors and other smart devices—from street lights to power meters to traffic signals and beyond—are distributed throughout the urban environment. These devices work together with an open, connected infrastructure to collect data about themselves, the environment, people, and events. This data can be analyzed and shared via software platforms and mobile apps to save energy, streamline operations, and make people feel safer and happier. (Emphasis added)

A fact sheet by the European Commission (EC) clarifies the concept of smart lighting in cities: 

A smart, connected lighting system is part of a local, wireless, decentralized network with local or cloud-based intelligence. Data is collected from sensors on the lampposts, being cameras, daylight, movements or noise detection, and processed to derive optimal energy-efficient and safety-supporting operation of the public lighting.

The additional energy savings of smart connected lighting compared to LED lighting are at least 60% higher, ensuring a sound return on investment.

The EC also confirms that some cities equip their lampposts to conduct “video surveillance for public security”. Many US cities also allow hidden video surveillance in public spaces without public notice.

The City of Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) announced in 2020 an initiative to change 46,000 street lights, or 82% of the city’s lights, to LEDs. The city did not respond to a Frontline News inquiry as to whether the lamps include surveillance cameras or whom the city contracted for the project.

The concept is not new; as early as 2014 it was discovered that LED lights containing hidden cameras had been installed at Newark Liberty International Airport and US malls. 

“Both G.E. and Acuity executives are looking to smart-city projects, which use a canopy of connected streetlights as the wireless infrastructure to coordinate city services, like easing traffic congestion, sensing when the garbage cans are full or even picking up on suspicious behavior at a pedestrian plaza,” reports the New York Times.

Philips Lighting is owned by Signify, which commentator Chris Sky notes partners with the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a connected lighting provider for smart cities.