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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Chris Elliott                        Zach Lee                  Christian Palmer
                Geronimo Rodriguez       Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

Hurtt's defense of cameras questionable

Downtown has undergone an impressive transformation in the past few years. City projects -- including, most notably, the relatively new light rail -- have brought new life to the district. Nevertheless, there are still questionable parts where one wouldn't want to walk alone late at night.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt is looking to combat crime in the Main Street area downtown with surveillance cameras. The added surveillance would make the area safer without requiring more officers on HPD's payroll. Hurtt told the Houston Chronicle the project is still in the planning stages, but he'd like to have at least five cameras installed this year.

Surveillance cameras, like the ones that watch over many UH parking lots, can help deter crime as well as solve cases. In an area where criminal activity is a problem, they can be a cheap, effective way to keep citizens safe.

Some may feel the urge to hurl Orwellian criticisms at the project. But when you're in public, you shouldn't expect any real degree of privacy, at least in terms of being watched. Hurtt has preliminarily deflected such criticism with the beloved cliché: If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about.

The cameras are a reasonable method of fighting crime, but Hurtt's defense is disturbing. It may not be stated in the Constitution, but a certain level of privacy is something Americans should enjoy.

Maybe your diary doesn't have anything incriminating in it, but how would you feel if your roommate went into your room, snooped around and read it? Chances are, you'd feel violated. Why should your reward for not behaving in a way that suggests criminal activity be the chance that officials can spy on you at will?

Of course, that logic doesn't apply to public areas, and maybe that's all Hurtt was talking about. We certainly hope his attitude with the cameras doesn't apply to other areas of law enforcement as well.