Over winter break, Big Brother came to Georgetown. After years of discussion between business groups and the Metropolitan Police Department, the first of at least five video surveillance cameras which will be located in the area will be placed on the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. The new camera will sit atop the roof of Banana Republic and will be recording the busy public intersection. The Georgetown Partnership, which comprises businesses that look out for the interests of the local area, paid for the installation of these and other cameras which will be placed on other parts of M and Wisconsin This video surveillance package is the first of its kind in MPD’s Second District, which includes Georgetown University.
This new video surveillance technology raises significant privacy concern relating to the Fourth Amendment. The new technology enhances law enforcement’s ability to view an individual’s activity and, as is the case on Wisconsin and M, can be surreptitiously placed outside of public view. And because these video cameras can zoom in to focus on facial expressions, a license plate or even normal conversation, they dramatically increase MPD’s ability to monitor public behavior to a degree that interferes with the reasonable expectation of privacy.
Some may argue that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place. Certainly, it would not be reasonable to expect privacy in an area where signs clearly point out that the area is under video surveillance. But while “reasonable expectation of privacy” is a specific legal term, what is far more important is the right to privacy. That fundamental human right cannot be forgotten simply by informing people that it is being violated. This is particularly true with regards to public streets. People can refuse to enter stores that are subject to video surveillance cameras but, if cameras spring up in more areas, they will be increasingly less able to withhold their consent and still get from place to place.
The Constitution doesn’t permit the government to search and search and search until it can find something people might have done wrong. If the Georgetown Partnership is genuinely concerned with community safety and security, they should arrange for more police officers?in Burleith, for instance, which has seen a number of recent crimes against students?instead of video cameras.
The war against terrorism has triggered a dramatic increase in law enforcement activity, and will raise a number of important questions regarding privacy. This is one such question. Hidden video surveillance technology should not be placed on public streets. The Orwellian idea that “Big Brother is watching” will have become no longer apocryphal, but a literal and permanent daily reality.
