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Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

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Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#51
post #9

A few of the comments here seem to have not read the article. This is an opt-in program that effectively creates a map with contact info of private citizens with cameras. When something nefarious happens in a particular area, the police can reach out to the people who put themselves on the map and ask if they have footage and are willing to share it. The police already and have always done this.

> " The police have always done this " Assuming police in the 1840s couldn't find citizens with cameras watching the street, how long is your "always"? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_United_... )

Since the advent of surveillance cameras I suppose. So, 1927?

https://www.asecurelife.com/history-of-security-cameras/

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#52

In some countries (notably Germany) it is illegal for private citizens to point surveillance cameras at any property they do not own, including public property. This includes dummy cameras (in Germany).

It can also be problematic in the US as peeping tom laws have not really caught up with surveillance cameras and drones yet.

I had a neighbor that was allegedly pointing cameras at his neighbor because he didn't want a black woman in the neighborhood. He was also an officer of the HOA. He was trying to intimidate her with cameras and staring at her all day. She sued and won. The judge ordered him to remove the cameras. I got out of that HOA in a hurry. They've since doubled the fees to compensate for the law suit, so they should have it paid off in 25-30 years.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. This sounds like a typical made-up crime panic narrative, honestly. The linked story being about a car left running with an infant in it being stolen doesn't help. Terrible, but not at all some boxed-in high octane car theft. Sibling posts ch…

In some localities and for some time periods, you are more likely to be a victim of homicide as a taxi driver than as a police officer or security guard (in other localities and time periods, policing is usually more deadly). In terms of non-fatal assaults, taxi drivers are right up there with police officers and security guards. The NIOSH and the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Labor, h…

I'm perfectly willing to believe the parent that this driver really did tell him this. But 22 people you personally know in a single year doesn't pass a basic smell test. I lived in South Bay LA in the early 90s when there was legitimately a statistical wave of carjacking when it was first invented and crime in general was huge multiples of what it is now, and I never knew a single person it happened to personally, over my lifetime so far, let alone a single year.

I can accept professional drivers are at much greater risk compared to the average daily driver, but do rideshare drivers actually know each other? This sounds very much like a 2020s Polly Klaas situation where one or two spectacular stories actually happen and the legislature starts responding and we end up with decades of three-strikes law doing thousands of times as much harm as ever happened from girls being kidnapped out of their bedrooms.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#54

[dead]

As a heads up, all of the "Crime Watch" for Minnesota and Minneapolis are run by a verifiable racist. Please ensure you review that source with awareness of the bias that is implicitly in every update from them. Source: https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/01/25/data-show-racial-bi...

If it's verifiable then why didn't you provide the evidence?

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#55

[dead]

As a heads up, all of the "Crime Watch" for Minnesota and Minneapolis are run by a verifiable racist. Please ensure you review that source with awareness of the bias that is implicitly in every update from them. Source: https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/01/25/data-show-racial-bi...

Any facts that come from a racist or otherwise problematic source are deemed “hate facts” and must be discarded.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#56

So I am actually from Edina, I don’t currently live there but my parents do. The context of this is a string of robberies and crimes not normally seen in this suburb. Edina is generally seen as a safe suburb, and all of the recent crime came on very sudden. I don’t agree with the program, but since I have some context around it, I thought I’d add to the conversation. [0]: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/12/11/edi…

My family had a friend who was eating a restaurant with his wife at lunchtime. In broad daylight someone swiped their catalytic converter while they were eating. The suburbs are not nearly as safe as they were. My county has reported an explosion in carjackings and is considering boosting the police budget, and has referred to it as crime spillover.

[deleted]

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#57

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

I live in the heart of south Minneapolis. I really doubt the claim that this is for organized crime for some kind of financial gain. There was an organized ring last year targeting high value cars, but it got busted pretty easily. From the news I’ve seen, it’s almost always joyriding teenagers and stolen vehicles used to commit some other crime. Uber/Lyft drivers are specifically targeted because they can be easily l…

I live in Minneapolis too, and while I absolutely agree with you that Minneapolis is still a very safe city, there's no doubt that crime has gone up in the last year--for example, the murder rate in the Twin Cities has definitely gone up: https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2021/12/09/st-paul-h...

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#58
post #15

> Minneapolis still encourages residents to register their cameras, but Merchant said that doesn't give police "blanket access. ... There has to be consent from the owner." I'm glad a warrant-like system is the plan. Technology opens the door to many dystopias I hope we avoid.

A warrant-like system? No, it looks like the cops just have to ask your paranoid gun-nut neighbor before they can get the videos. That's a far cry from a judge and the judicial scrutiny, legal protections, etc. that a warrant entails.

They can already do that. They've always been able to do that. Consent circumvents nearly all legal protections.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#59

So I am actually from Edina, I don’t currently live there but my parents do. The context of this is a string of robberies and crimes not normally seen in this suburb. Edina is generally seen as a safe suburb, and all of the recent crime came on very sudden. I don’t agree with the program, but since I have some context around it, I thought I’d add to the conversation. [0]: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/12/11/edi…

What is it about the program you don't agree with, if you don't mind elaborating?

I don't agree with the close ties between private residential camera systems and the police. This program, allows police to ask for footage from any camera without a warrant. Granted, its voluntary, there need to be checks within the program that prevent police from mass requesting camera footage without a legitimate reason. And I don't want that check to be individual private citizens who, given the least amount of pressure will need to comply.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#60
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been in Minneapolis for 6 months and that linked article was the only Amber alert we have gotten in 6 months. So I am curious about the source of multiple Amber alerts

They were probably referring to the three alerts that came out for the single event last weekend. The first two were garbage, telling us to google it? Only the last had information people could actually use.

Yes
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