Friday, March 18, 2011

Those Security Cameras around Chicago

One of the tenets of my Socialocracy is that regulation is pushed down to the people. This is being seen in the free markets of the Internet with various rating type news sites, YELP! type apps, and via the underground with WikiLeaks and Anonymous.

So it occurred to me, a Chicagoan, that we should be able to look through all the bluelight cameras here in Chicago. Almost around any corner one sees a mysterious blue glow. This supposedly signifies that big brother is watching over you. But what is the point? Big brother is probably an underpaid police assistant sleeping in a control room bored by the 60cycle hum of electricity and the monotony of everyday life.

Put into the hands of the citizenry, however, and there would be instant change. Just punch in your street address and get a map of the cameras in your area, click on a camera, and let your app see what is currently happening. Maybe even have a thirty cache of video data available for anyone to peruse, and to focus on. This would be an incredible and inexpensive method to actually make those cameras worth the money. Heck, we the taxpayers had to pay for them, so why not have us use them?

Do they really believe that only they have the smarts to see? If a crime was committed, people would talk, the date and time would get known, and then probably a dozen folks would fire up their Internet or App and would start investigating.

News of this would spread and the empowerment would be great. Of course, they could then notify the police, show them their evidence and let the traditional system get back to work. This subtle shift in responsibilities would also start the heal the rift between citizenry and police as they would be working together.

It would also allow for a reduction in payrolls while increasing safety. Again, socialocracy at work for the good of the people.

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