Boston Police Not Happy That Their Squad Cars Will Be Tracked By GPS Welcome to the 1984 surveillance state, officers. Big Brother is watching you too. The pending use of GPS tracking devices, slated to be installed in Boston police cruisers, has many officers worried that commanders will monitor their every move while supervisors insist the system will improve their response to emergencies. The addition of GPS, which still needs City Council approval of the arbitration award package that resulted from the negotiations, is the most dramatic change from the new contract facing officers as the department begins a new level of scrutiny. Another change: Cameras equipped in district booking stations would record officers and preserve film of their bookings of suspects. The GPS devices have stirred the most anxiety. But some officers said they worry that under such a system they will have to explain their every move and possibly compromise their ability to court street sources. “No one likes it. Who wants to be followed all over the place? said one officer who spoke anonymously because department rules forbid police from speaking to the media without authorization. If I take my cruiser and I meet [reluctant witnesses] to talk, eventually they can follow me and say why were you in a back dark street for 45 minutes? It’s going to open up a can of worms that can’t be closed. Our interest was the scrutiny, said Joseph Sandulli, a lawyer for the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. This thing keeps a permanent record of where an officer is all day. If he stops to go to the bathroom, that stop appears on the screen. If he goes a mile over the speed limit, someone can question that. It’s quite an intrusion on people’s lives. - The Boston Globe (Nov. 18, 2013) No doubt. But thats the price weve all been told that we have to pay for security. Get used to it, boys.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:27:17 +0000
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