Dear Mayor Kelly,
The speed at which the Halifax Police Service was able to go from a public comment that cameras might be necessary, to flipping a switch to activate them is nothing short of amazing. It took around 24 hours. Clearly this has been planned for some time.
I am completely opposed to the use of police monitored CCTV on public streets.
What you have approved is the theft of my privacy rights on public property. It disgusts me that you did this without public consultation. It’s an erosion of the rights of the public. You acted like a totalitarian dictator in this decision Mr. Kelly, and my persistent support of your leadership and belief in your character as a great Mayor has been completely overturned.
It can be argued that police cameras are a necessary evil. I don’t agree and many, many other people around the world don’t agree, but clearly the tide has turned and people like yourself and the Chief Beazley band others who are willing to sacrifice the rights of the public will get their way.
Assuming this to be the way thing are going to be, please at least consider conducting the program in an orderly way with some kind of appropriate guidelines and policy similar to Alberta’s approach: http://foip.gov.ab.ca/resources/publications/SurveillanceGuide.cfm
The current approach is a small-town method. If you insist on robbing the citizen of their rights, at least show some degree of respect by doing so in an orderly fashion.
Again Mayor Kelly this action disgusts me and I have lost a great deal of the respect I had for you, Council and the Halifax Police Service. You can earn some of that back by following the Alberta example above but in general it’s the end of an era in Halifax.
Sincerely,
John van Gurp