It's all to Keep You Safe

It’s all to Keep You Safe

            After the attacks of September 11th, the Department of Homeland Security decided to expand the protection of the people. It was not just the airports and Transportation Security Administration’s responsibility to prevent terrorism. With a terror driven media new, scenarios of possible terrorist attacks started to pop up. To prevent these possible attacks, the DHS decided to move security to the streets.

            By 2003, local law enforcement agencies in the State of New York, California, Texas, and other majorly populated areas installed crime prevention cameras.(McClure, 2005) What this program was designed to do is to spot potential criminals and send in enforcement before the crime happened. This caused a big controversy with the general public. People argued the police agencies by saying “how can you charge someone with a crime they have not committed?” In the constitution, it clearly states that a person is innocent until proven guilty. So how is it legally possible to arrest someone for a crime they have not done? If it is illegal to think of an illegal action, we all should be in jail.

             Another problem brought up with the cameras is the right to privacy. The cameras can rotate to move and look into some people’s homes. The cameras can be accesses by any police officer or DHS agent to watch the public. Now most people at the time were willing to sacrifice their right to privacy to make sure they were safe. This is just another example of how to rise of paranoia in the nation lead to the fall of people’s individual rights.