Secret cameras

Pittsburghers deserve a citizen-friendly policy

Pittsburgh has more than 100 cameras watching its residents and visitors — as well as policies to ensure it doesn’t become the City of Big Brotherly Love. But local statutes that restrict surveillance and demand openness and citizen input about where cameras are placed have been largely ignored, in part because they’re at odds with federal guidelines that discourage disclosure.

In an extensive review of cameras in public areas meant to spot and deter crime, Post-Gazette reporters Rich Lord and Jacob Betzner obtained information on more than 100 surveillance stations. They include 15 high-profile bridges; the Fort Pitt, Liberty and Squirrel Hill tunnels; as well as assorted other spots, such as the Riverview Park soccer field, the Allegheny YMCA and Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.

In 2008, then-city councilman Bill Peduto led the effort to create a sensible privacy policy, which called for a committee that would help choose locations for camera use and required the city to provide training for police and community groups. Turns out, the police department has a policy of its own, which prohibits following people who aren’t breaking the law. So far, so good.

But multi-million-dollar grants to Pittsburgh from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — through a program meant, in part, to safeguard port facilities — appeared to come with strings. A Coast Guard official told Mr. Lord that camera locations are not to be disclosed since the cameras are supposed to act as plainclothes officers, their value deriving from their secrecy. The city now blames federal restrictions regarding “sensitive security information” for its failure to follow through with its own disclosure policy.

A homeland security spokeswoman, however, told Mr. Lord that what to reveal about camera positioning is a local decision. With a $5.7 million surveillance network in place, Pittsburgh would be smart to get a second opinion on disclosure, with the hope of balancing privacy with high-tech policing.

Until the rules are clarified, the public should dance like someone’s watching. In Pittsburgh, chances are someone is.