LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Little Rock may not be a likely terrorism target or a gang crime hotspot, but the Arkansas capital has decided to follow the example of high-security cities by expanding electronic surveillance of its streets.
A police car with a device that photographs license plates moves through the city and scans the traffic on the streets, relaying the data it collects to a computer for sifting. Police say the surveillance helps identify stolen cars and drivers with outstanding arrest warrants.
It also allows authorities to monitor where average citizens might be at any particular time. That bothers some residents, as well as groups that oppose public intrusions into individual privacy. The groups are becoming more alarmed about license plate tracking as a growing number of police departments acquire the technology. source
It’s no business of the police where any “average citizen” may be at any given damn time. Taken together with rampant illegal wiretapping of both email and ‘phone conversations, the use of GPS data from driver’s cellphones to “monitor traffic flows and patterns” and the use of drones we have to accept the fact that the Surveillance State is already here.
Add to those things information sharing across government departments and financial institutions, disclosure rules for financial transactions etc etc etc and one would have to be a blind, dumb optimist to think this is headed anyplace but totalitarianism.
CrusaderRabbit
FOR LIBERTY
I’m not quite sure how to put this.
The relationship between the people and the government is no longer that of elected officials doing what their electorate want and has moved on to that of the elected fearing the electorate and putting in place the means to protect themselves from their people. This is because the elected are not there to represent the electorate anymore but, instead, to either serve their own cause (make money) or an ideology that they have not disclosed when seeking their election. This is false representation and should be punished……..but will not be because all those in positions of “power” are playing the same game and will protect each other. The barrel needs to cleaned out.
Put well enough, Mawm and absolutely true. We’ve moved from a system of representatives to one where we get to elect our rulers, from a limited pool consisting of those who are pre-approved by our current masters.
The illusion of choice is believed by a sufficient number of voters– which allows the sham to be maintained.
The only thing the “little people” like us have in our favor is what the various ruling elites of the countries of the Western World are doing is NOT sustainable in the long run – and at some point in the (hopefully) near future “The Machine” they created will crash and burn.
…and this period of anarchy will be our best opportunity in a couple of hundred years to seize control and put safeguards in place to prevent the return of the reactionaries.
“The illusion of choice”…Yep…then its business as usual,lies,more lies,studies to justify the lies,then a tax to finance the lie.
Western democracy in its current form cannot work…dancing to the UN’s tune is not democracy but a capitulation…especially when the UN is dominated by third world BMW cruising dictators and third rate failed ‘pinkwearing’ lefties e.g. Carter,clark,Chavel…
Waste of a tick…screwed no matter who gets in.
“Waste of a tick…screwed no matter who gets in.”
Yep.
So now we have a good reason to slash tires on Police Cruisers?