Those are the words of the Wisconsin State Journal, not me.
Seriously, the City of Madison is watching you. In 2003 we did a survey of our departments to find out who was using cameras and who wasn’t. At the time, the City ATtorney wrote a policy for us, the council passed a report and the Mayor authorized us to write an APM (Administrative Procedures Memorandum), but it never happened.
In cleaning up a few things, I ran across this folder and decided that we should pass a resolution making the policy from 2003 applicable. I thought it was important that the various agencies get their policies in writing and available in the Clerk’s Office. In preparation for this resolution, I also had the 2003 survey repeated. Here’s some of the results.
Agencies that answered that they don’t have cameras:
- Affirmative Action – may want cameras in the future for individuals who “have demonstrated behavior that is of concern”.
- City Attorney
- Common Council
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- Community Services
- Comptroller
- Equal Opportunities Commission
- Human Resources
- Inspection Unit (Neighborhood Preservation & Services)
- Madison City Channel
- Madison Senior Center
- Mayor’s Office
- Municipal Court
- Organizational Training and Development
- Parking Utility
- Planning
- Public Health
- Engineering – was considering getting them in 2003, but not now.
- Information Services – was considering getting them in 2003, but not now.
- Library – is looking at having cameras in the new Downtown Public Library.
Agencies that didn’t have cameras in 2003 that now do:
- Motor Equipment
- Police
- Water Utility
Agencies that had cameras in 2003, and still do.
- Fire – Ok, this one is weird. In 2003 the Fire Department said they had security cameras in place, but they did not provide answers about how many, location, use, viewing procedures, etc. Now, they say they don’t have any cameras in place. This will require some follow up.
- Housing Operations
- Has three fixed cameras, 2 mobile cameras. This is the same as 2003.
- Employees and public are made aware of the cameras and they are in plain view.
- They do not have a written policy about camera use in place.
- Overture Center
- Had 11 cameras in 2003, they will not disclose how many they have now. Their standard answer to most questions was “Per recent training, I have been trained not to disclose security camera locations.”
- In 2003 employees were notified of the cameras, now they are not. Citizens were not made aware of them in 2003 and are not now made aware.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Madison Metro
- Had 4 cameras in fixed locations in 2003, now they have 33. They had 2 on buses in 2003, now they have 168.
- Employees and citizens are made aware of the cameras. Citizens were not made aware in 2003.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Monona Terrace
- Had 25 cameras in fixed locations in 2003 and have not added any.
- Employees are made aware of the cameras, citizens are only made aware if they ask. However, the cameras are visible.
- They did not have a camera police in place in 2003, but they have one now.
- Parks – Ice Arenas
- Had three cameras in fixed locations in 2003 and have not added more, in fact, they were sold with the Ice Arenas.
- Parks – Warner Park
- Had 8 cameras in fixed locations in 2003 and still do.
- Employees and citizens are made aware of the cameras
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Revenue
- Had 3 cameras, still have three cameras
- Some employees were notified in 2003, now all are. Citizens are not made aware of them.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Streets
- Had 11 camceras in fixed locations 2003, 26 have been added to the recycling trucks.
- Employees and citizens are made aware of the cameras.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Traffic Engineering
- They have 5 fixed cameras and 1 mobile one, same as 2003
- Employees are aware, citizens are not made aware.
- They do have a written policy in place.
- Fleet Services
- Has one camera, same as 2003, but they are installing new cameras in 2008.
- Employees are notified, citizens are not.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Their answers were odd in that they had many “unknown at this time” answers regarding items like, how long are the tapes kept, who has access to them, are the tapes disposed of, etc.
- Police
- 8 fixed cameras, 2 mobile cameras. They did not answer the survey in 2003, but the 8 cameras are new. And at the end they added that all police stations will have cameras for interrogations at all police stations and all of the marked cars and some of the unmarked cars have cameras as well.
- Employees and citizens are made aware of the cameras. (Do you think that’s true? Are people walking up and down State St. made aware of the cameras?)
- They do have a written policy in place.
- Water Utility
- 65 cameras in 32 different locations. They did not answer the survey in 2003, but I believe these cameras are all new.
- Employees and Citizens are made aware of the cameras.
- They do not have a written policy in place.
- Golf Courses
- They have cameras at two golf courses, but that is the only information we have.
Of course, the Brittingham cameras are not in place yet, so they did not show up on the survey.
Why is this all important? I think the summary by the City Attorney below describes it best:
Video Surveillance by City agencies potentially implicates individual privacy rights. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. Article 1, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution provides similar protections. Video surveillance will not implicate privacy rights if it is conducted in a forum in which an individual has no reasonable expectation of privacy. Determination of whether an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy is a two-prong test: (1) A subjective expectation of privacy must be held by the individual; and (2) this privacy interest must be objectively recognized by society.
Of course, without the information in the survey, we won’t know if this test is being met, which is why written policies are important.
Interested in this issue? More information from 2003 and now is available here.
