Big Brother is alive and well, and he will be surveiling in Lafayette:
By month's end, small, dome-covered cameras mounted on light posts could begin monitoring activity along three blocks of Second Street in downtown Lafayette.
The 13 cameras -- stretching from Sgt. Preston's to the bus transfer station at Riehle Plaza -- are the first phase of a larger camera project that Lafayette Police Chief Don Roush has wanted to see in place for the past few years.
"In the world today, where technology is so prevalent, cameras in a downtown business district are not unreasonable," Roush said. "They provide a safer environment for residents. ... The whole tenet behind them is public safety."
The cameras will be "passive record," meaning no one will be assigned to constantly monitor them. But video footage will play in real-time at the Lafayette Police Department.
Yes, yes, I know, we don't have an expectation of privacy in a public place. But I still get a creepy whiff of incipient totalitarian malevolence when I read stories like this. Especially disturbing are the quotes from ordinary citizens who seem downright pleased that their safety is being so well taken care of. "You already see cops out here sometimes anyway, watching us," Ellett said, nodding toward a Lafayette police officer and squad car in the parking lot. "Cameras ain't no different."
