Surveillance Cameras Planned for Crime Areas
by Rod Hughes
Smile, evil-doers. You’re on candid camera!
Minister of Public Security Fernando Berrocal has announced an ambitious program to place 3,000 surveillance cameras in high-crime areas. The program will cost $18 million but Berrocal says, “This will place Costa Rica on the cutting edge of Central American security.”
To answer concerns about privacy, he was quick to point out that only screened personnel would be allowed near the tapes. But he said the photographic records, although numerous and bulky to store, would be invaluable to Judicial branch investigators, for example. And signs would be placed to say, in essence, “You’re being recorded.” Finally, after a time, the tapes would be erased.
Maintenance personnel will have to be trained. Another worry is the effects of the tropical climate, with rapid temperature changes and high humidity, has on sensitive machinery. (As anyone who owns a computer or cell phone here can attest.)
The announcement came almost simultaneously with that of New York’s similar program of massive camera installation. Although vastly more expensive and extensive in the metropolis to the north, the two law enforcement agencies have high hopes for cutting down street crime. The difference is that Berrocal’s cameras will not just be installed in the capital but also in some of the major outlying cities as well.
Although Berrocal assured the press that the cameras would be installed with safety devices and high enough to foil the sticky fingered, some, including The Tico Times editorial cartoonist in today’s op-ed pagesl, suspect the expensive equipment might be more of a temptation than a deterrant.