Taxpayers enter 2025 under increased camera surveillance
Taxpayers are entering 2025 under increased camera surveillance by law enforcement agencies in various states.
NBC reported last month that police departments in Georgia and North Carolina have rolled out a program called “Heads Up Real Time” to catch motorists who commit traffic violations. The program uses AI-powered traffic cameras to monitor drivers for signs of impairment or offenses like texting while driving. Supplied by Australian company Acusensus, Heads Up cameras are equipped with facial and license plate recognition technology. If they detect a violation, the Acusensus software transmits footage of the driver and vehicle to law enforcement, which inspects the photos and dispatches a nearby officer to conduct a traffic stop. Police may also mail tickets to drivers based on the footage.
The Heads Up Real Time program is currently only targeting commercial motorists, but North Carolina has already seen a ninefold increase in phone violations and a sixfold increase in seatbelt violations.
Acusensus Vice President of Government Solutions David Kelly told NBC News that driver footage is not saved unless there is a violation.
“If there’s no violation, we’re not saving the data. There’s no data for us to save. And if, when it’s reviewed, if there’s no citation that’s issued, there’s no data that’s saved,” Kelly said, though he added that it is up to the discretion of law enforcement agencies whether to save or delete data.
Acusensus also works with the Australian and British governments, which have rolled out their own surveillance infrastructures.
ALPR cameras
Over 2,000 cities across 43 states have installed similar systems using automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras made by Flock Safety. The cameras can scan passing cars and capture license plate numbers, makes and models, colors, and identifying markers like bumper stickers or broken tail lights. They then use AI technology to break these data down into searchable queries and match them against the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). If there is a match, a real-time alert is sent to law enforcement.
The devices can be purchased by private individuals, businesses, schools, and homeowners associations (HOAs), hundreds of which are reportedly using the cameras. Other Flock Safety products include Raven, an audio device built to detect the sounds of gunshots, breaking glass, sawing metal, or screeching tires.
NYC installs cameras on every subway car
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently trumpeted her decision to install surveillance cameras in every New York City subway car as part of her five-point plan to make transportation “safer.” After the cameras were installed last month, Hochul bragged about the subway’s safety. Her boast drew outrage, however, because they came just hours after a woman was burned alive, by an illegal migrant, on the subway while she slept. Footage of the incident shows a police officer nonchalantly walking by as the woman stood engulfed in flames.
Nevertheless, Fox News reported Sunday that Hochul believes her surveillance system will be effective.
"The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue — and we need to tackle this crisis head-on," she said. "I directed the MTA to install security cameras in every single subway car, and now that the project is complete, these cameras are helping police solve crimes even faster."
Surveillance by housing authorities
Public housing authorities are also using surveillance cameras to monitor tenants and, in some cases, evict them. 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. 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.
