I received a newsletter in the mail yesterday with a page 1 story: “The City is currently installing cameras around the city and we would like to encourage you to do the same.” It’s bad enough that there are public cameras everywhere; now they want to add to it by advocating that private homes add to the footage. Do we really need to record everything everywhere?
We are becoming dependent on seeing it before we believe it. Police officers have to wear body cameras because it wasn’t enough to have them in the cruiser. Sporting events have multiple professional photographers trained to capture the play in front of them, yet there is still dissent as to what really occurred. Sexual assault victims aren’t believed because there is no “proof” of what happened.
Crimes happen in locker rooms, bedrooms and churches – should we install cameras there, too? Where does it end?
No matter how many cameras are out there, it will never provide a comprehensive, authoritative view of what happened. Yes, they may help in an accident investigation. Yes, they may help to solve a crime. But not everything that occurs needs to be recorded for it to be accepted as fact. Sometimes words from a survivor are worth more than a picture.
