Plenty of cameras trained on public in Columbus
If you get the feeling you’re being watched while out in public, you aren’t necessarily paranoid.
Surveillance cameras have become so ubiquitous that there’s a good chance your image is being captured on video nearly everywhere you go.
A recent study of 39 of the nation’s largest cities found that Columbus was in the middle of the pack for how heavily “surveilled” its citizens are by government-operated closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Columbus had at least 3,428 public cameras, ranking the city 22nd in percapita use of the cameras, according to the study, released early this month by Comparitech, a technology research firm. The study counted cameras used primarily for public safety, traffic management and public transit purposes.
Columbus’ estimated 3.82 public cameras per 1,000 people was below the average of about 6 cameras per 1,000 people for the 39 cities. Atlanta topped the list with almost 50 public cameras per 1,000 people.
Paul Bischoff, author of the study, conceded that getting accurate numbers for public surveillance cameras can be challenging. Comparitech sought
information for the nation’s 50 largest cities, but was unable to include 11 cities because of insufficient data.
As for the 39 that did provide sufficient information, “this is probably an undercount” of their public cameras, Bischoff said.
It’s an even greater undercount when you consider that Comparitech’s study of public surveillance didn’t include cameras operated at state-government properties, of which there are many in Columbus, or at other public institutions like Ohio State University.
Cameras can provide valuable crimefighting and up-to-the-minute traffic information, but also raise some privacy questions, Bischoff said.
“There are concerns that surveillance cameras can restrict or discourage freedom of movement,” he said. “They can have a chilling effect on freedom of assembly.”
Those concerns were amplified by the mass surveillance conducted during some of the racial justice protests across the country in the spring and summer of 2020.
Franklin County prosecutors revealed that they used video surveillance from a police helicopter to identify and indict a suspect accused of firing commercial-grade fireworks at officers, one of many arrests related to Downtown protests in May.
Brandon Pack, 25, of the West Side, was indicted on charges of aggravated rioting, aggravated arson and 12 counts of felonious assault. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
An overwhelming majority of the cameras identified in the study are not hanging above intersections, as you might think, but are installed on Central Ohio Transit Authority buses.
COTA has 2,460 cameras among its 321 buses, according to Jeff Pullin, spokesman for the transit authority. Additionally, COTA monitors 61 cameras at various bus stops and shelters, he said.
“All of these cameras are for the safety of our customers and our operators,” Pullin said.
COTA’S cameras dwarf the 235 neighborhood-safety cameras that the Columbus Division of Police has installed around the city. That number is based on multiple cameras at 83 different locations, primarily in high-crime areas, according to the police public records unit.
The police division also has eight mobile surveillance cameras that it uses for what it describes as special events.
In December, Columbus City Council approved funding for license-plate readers, another type of surveillance camera, to be installed in conjunction
with the city’s Shotspotter technology, but none of those cameras has been installed yet, said police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua.
During the first year of the contract, two of the readers are to be installed. They are designed to be activated when Shotspotter detects gunfire, potentially captured license-plate numbers for those involved in a shooting
The city’s cameras aren’t monitored in real time to detect criminal activity as it occurs, but instead capture video that can be accessed later as part of the evidence-collection process.
Columbus also operates 131 traffic cameras throughout the city, according to Debbie Briner, public service department spokeswoman. But those cameras simply live-stream images of traffic and don’t record at all, she said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation monitors traffic cameras along I-270 and I-70 in the city that are capable of providing recordings that go back 72 hours, spokesman Matt Bruning said. The department has dozens of cameras on highways throughout central Ohio, but couldn’t immediately provide a specific number for its cameras within Columbus.
Sgt. Fuqua said video from traffic cameras is rarely helpful in criminal investigations.
One high-profile exception occurred in early October, when the driver of a black Ford pickup truck was accused of firing a gunshot at a semi driver while participating in a “rolling rally” in support of then-president Donald Trump on I-270 south of Tuttle Crossing Boulevard. Video from an ODOT camera captured the positioning of the vehicles as the drivers interacted, but wasn’t able to show the shot being fired.
Because ODOT cameras are strictly designed to monitor traffic, helping the public see and avoid road closures or traffic slowdowns, the goal is to “see
headlights coming toward you and taillights going away,” meaning they aren’t very helpful in capturing the kind of details that are useful to law enforcement, Bruning said.
However, videos from police cameras, COTA cameras and surveillance cameras installed at private businesses and residences, including Ring doorbells, have become “an invaluable tool” in criminal investigations, Fuqua said.
Video evidence can be even more valuable for law-enforcement than eyewitness accounts, which can be fallible, he said.
The Comparitech study made no attempt to count the number of privatelyoperated cameras, which include those in and on businesses and homes, and which privacy experts say far outnumber those operated by government agencies.
Comparitech did, however, explore law-enforcement use of Ring doorbell cameras at private residences. Columbus is one of 28 cities in the study that have a video-sharing agreement with Ring, a subsidiary of Amazon, that permits police to access the private residential cameras as part of criminal investigations.
Columbus police have worked with Ring since late 2018, according to its public-records unit.
From October 2018 through November 2020, “there have been approximately 130 video requests sent to Ring users asking if they would be willing to share video from a specific date and time,” a Columbus police records analyst said in an email to The Dispatch.
Ring users also frequently contact police with video of “porch pirates” stealing packages from doorsteps, Fuqua said.
“We’ve been highly successful with that,” he said. “When we post video or stills of a porch pirate on our social media, we usually get an identification within 24 hours. We get some tips in four or five minutes.”
And private businesses typically are more than willing to share video from their surveillance cameras with police when they record criminal activity, Fuqua said.
As public and private surveillance cameras grow in number, so do concerns about potential abuses of their use, said Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.
“Legally speaking, once you step outside your home, you have almost no constitutional right to privacy,” he said. “You’re outside your home, anybody can see you, so you really can’t have an expectation of privacy at that point. But we still subscribe to the fundamental belief that if you’re not doing anything wrong, the government shouldn’t be engaged in widespread surveillance of all of us.”
Bischoff, who led the Comparitech study, said his concern stems from lack of guidelines for the use of surveillance technology to make sure it isn’t misused.
“There need to be rules and regulations about how, when and who in law enforcement can use this type of technology,” he said.
There is growing anxiety about the use of facial-recognition technology that can be linked to surveillance cameras.
Fuqua said that none of Columbus Division of Police’s cameras use facial recognition technology.
However, the Ohio attorney general’s office has a facial-recognition database, mostly containing driver’s license photos from the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, through which local law-enforcement agencies can request searches in hopes of identifying criminal suspects. A photo of an unidentified person can be digitally compared with those in the database of identified images to seek a match.
Columbus police made 768 such requests through the database from 2017 to July 2019, according to the attorney general’s office.
The statistic comes from a review of the system ordered by Attorney General Dave Yost in 2019 in response to concerns raised about federal use of the state databases. The review found no evidence the facial-recognition database was being misused by any federal, state or local police agencies.
Fuqua said Columbus police are well aware of the privacy and civil-liberties concerns related to surveillance technology.
“We totally understand everyone’s concerns,” he said. “All we can do is make sure we’re following the Constitution and the laws given to us.” jfutty@dispatch.com @johnfutty
WASHINGTON – Health secretary nominee Xavier Becerra told senators Tuesday that confronting the coronavirus pandemic will be his first priority if confirmed, but he also pledged to expand health insurance, rein in prescription drug costs and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in medical care.
“To meet this moment, we need strong federal leadership,” Becerra said at the first of two hearings on his nomination. “I understand the enormous challenges before us and our solemn responsibility to faithfully steward this agency that touches almost every aspect of our lives.”
Becerra, 63, now serves as California’s attorney general and previously represented the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years in the U.S. House. A liberal politician-lawyer, he faces opposition from many GOP senators, who question his support for abortion rights and government-run health insurance, along with his lack of a clinical background. However, in the past 25 years, only one medical doctor has led the Department of Health and Human Services in a permanent capacity.
Appearing before the Senate health committee, Becerra seconded President Joe Biden’s goals of 100 million vaccine shots in his first 100 days, increased coronavirus testing, rampedup DNA mapping of the virus to track worrisome mutations and reopening schools and businesses.
On health insurance, he pledged to work to expand the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, though in the past he’s supported a government-run system like Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” idea. He said he would act to lower drug prices, particularly the cost of insulin. It’s a goal that has bipartisan backing. Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana noted that Becerra seems to have no drug industry support, adding, “I think I know why.”
Although leading Republicans are portraying Becerra as unfit, Democrats seem unfazed about his prospects, accusing the GOP of playing politics despite the urgency of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Following Tuesday’s appearance before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Becerra will be questioned Wednesday by the Finance Committee, which will vote on sending his nomination to the Senate floor. If confirmed, he’d be the first Latino to head HHS, a $1.4 trillion agency with a broad portfolio that includes health insurance programs, drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research and the welfare of children.
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the health committee, left no doubt that Becerra faces tough scrutiny.
“I’m not sold yet,” Burr said at Tuesday’s hearing, looking straight at the nominee. “I’m not sure that you have the necessary experience or skills to do this job at this moment.” Burr questioned whether Becerra respects the role of private companies in the health care system, particularly innovative pharmaceutical firms.
But other Republican senators sidestepped ideological confrontation and asked questions that centered on home state concerns. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-ala., made a reference to “when” Becerra is confirmed, not “if.” And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-alaska, said she would encourage him to visit her state early.
Becerra sought to soften his image as an enemy of drug companies. “We need the pharmaceutical industry in America to always feel like we’ve got their back to innovate,” he told Sen. Chris Murphy, D-conn. “COVID is a perfect example of how we can come up with a vaccine, but we have to make sure that we’re getting our dollar’s worth.”
And he also credited the Trump administration for its shepherding of two highly effective coronavirus vaccines. “There are a lot of people to thank, but without the work that the previous administration did, we would certainly not be here,” he told Braun.