Morning Read: Who’s watching us in the North Country?
Okay, so we’ve all gotten used (grudgingly) to the occasional Border Patrol traffic stops. And the increased muddle at the Canadian border. And the drone flights, where unmanned surveillance planes may be tracking our morning commute.
But now North Country Now has reported that a rash of mysterious camera boxes have popped up in St. Lawrence County, apparently positioned to watch highways. This from their article.
At least half a dozen boxes that apparently contain cameras have been hung on utility poles in St. Lawrence County, and in at least in one case, without authorization.
The Massena Electric Department recently removed one of the boxes from a pole it owns.
The cameras, in substantial light gray boxes mounted on the sides of poles, reportedly have been spotted in Massena, Norfolk, Norwood, Raymondville, Waddington, Canton, DeKalb Junction, and in Malone, too, according to Michael Jay of Norwood.
I occasionally take pictures of people in public places but I’m not an anonymous camera on a pole. And I don’t make it some deep secret. If I take your picture and you ask me why I’ll tell you, I’ll give you my card and I’ll even send you a copy if you want it. It’s not taking pictures of people in public that I object to. It’s the secrecy.
“Try going to a public beach and taking a picture of someones 5 year old and see what people think if you refuse to give your name.”
Zeke, we’re still a country of laws, and I think you’ll find that there is no law that requires photographers to identify themselves to anyone they photograph. Besides, when they tell you they’re Bill Thompson, what are you going to do? Suppose they don’t have ID on them? Suppose their ID is fake, what are you going to do?
It’s ridiculous. When you’re in public, you’re in public, period.
I agree with James. This shouldn’t be a deep dark secret. But I have no illusions that public indignation will make the owner of the camera boxes fess up if they feel a burning need to keep their operation secret. I suspect the answer is “national security”. That’s all anyone needs to say these days.
I want to know who is watching the watchers.
Just because they are the “authorities”, doesn’t mean they are above accountability.
After all , its our tax dollars paying for those spying gizmos.
Let’s see, how far back do I go…
After September 11 when Bush decided we needed a Crusade instead of a focussed effort to get the perpetrators of the actual crime, after the lies about weapons of mass destruction and the collusion between media and the government to get us into another war, after millions of voices spoke against going to war, after the “Free Speech Zones,” after pretending Saddam was a threat even though we had beaten him soundly in the 1st Gulf War and had fighters in his skies ever since carefully picking apart his ability to launch any serious attack, after “extraordinary renditions”, after illegal wire-tapping, after no-fly lists, after silly security “improvements” that never made us any safer, after Guantanimo Bay, after many examples of torture conducted in our name, after Abu Ghraib, after drone strikes on innocents, after drone strikes on Americans, after refusing to try captives in a court of law on American soil, after being stopped and asked for my papers while going about my daily business, after working hard to protect the freedoms of people who call me a Socialist as a thank you, does anyone expect me to get all worked up over boxes on a pole?
Make some signs and go down and have your picture taken. Give them something to think about. Throw picture parties around each box. Go to Radio Shack and buy some LED’s with the two long wires, some hearing aid batteries and small magnets. Tape the LED leads to the battery so the LED lights up then tape the whole thing to the magnet. Toss the assembly up onto the box. Repeat until each box is lit like a Christmas tree.Grab a chair and wait to see who shows up.
Hi sir , We just noticed that your car was spotted in Malone one night then over to Massena another night and then down to Watertown another night ,We see that you live here and work over there ,the computer thinks something might be wrong as your car is in all these different places for no good reason and we just want to make sure your safe and allright . Sir. They can say what they want but does your licence plates make it to some data base somewhere just waiting to be spit out when your car is seen at too many different places that make no sense to the computer, I’m probably way off base though and those cameras are just for catching the real bad people , not some one that travels all over the place taking photographs and forgeting to inform people of his doings, Oh well at my age I won’t have to worry about it soon enough , But you younger folks might want to wonder a bit, Ahh museings of an old man who’se been overrun by technology.
Here’s an FYI – did you know Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to ask you where you’re going? They can only ask if you are a U.S. citizen.
Kathy, my experience is that you don’t even have to pull over for them to check your vehicle if you are firmly convinced you have done nothing wrong, though they will walk their dog around your vehicle to see if it will react to something. Then you just drive away. But I don’t recommend the practice for everyone.
A BPA once asked me where I was coming from. I told him the town. Then he asked where I was going to, I told him the same town. He thought that was veerrryyy suspicious. I asked him if he ever heard of a round trip, said goodbye and left.
hahhaha not to worry big brother will keep an eye out for you,welcome to the great police state of ny
we the people,for the people by the people,what ever happened to that concept? to protect and serve? that turned into madd,gladd,sadd, wish you were here wish you werent,every sob sister in the country is on that bandwagon,so meanwhile enjoy what little rights you have because your losing them day by day
Chet, I’m not sure if I agree or disagree, but your post would make a good song.
So in watching Channel 7 News last night, a spokeswoman for National Grid confirmed to the reporter that they (National Grid) had a “contract with a second party” to place those units on their poles. When the reporter asked, “But you cannot tell me who that contract is with?”, the national Grid spokeswoman responded, “No. I can’t”.
Therefore, National Grid is certainly knowledgeable and cooperative (or complicit, depending upon how you look at it) in these units being installed on their poles. Hmmm. I wonder how the U.S. and U.K. investors and shareholders in National Grid feel about this? Maybe a journalist should do some polling of them and find out.
It stands to reason that whomever the “contractor” was that installed these units, didn’t get the memo that National Grid does not own all of the poles…particularly in the Massena/Norwood-Norfolk area. And if it wasn’t for Massena Electric, chances are good we never would have even known or found out about this (and I had already loved Massena Electric for the awesome low rates they give me).
As an aside, perhaps a coincidence, but on my way home from work last night, I saw a military Humvee on Route 11 hauling a trailer with a large portable satellite dish in the trailer. Haven’t seen something like that this north of Fort Drum since Plattsburgh AFB closed down.
Lastly, I also did a little pole scouting on the way home last night. For those in the Massena area who may be interested, I found one of these units on a pole on Route 310 just after you turn onto it from Route 56. There’s that big, beautiful house with all the columns that sits back on top of a hill. The unit is on the pole on the left-hand side of the driveway to the house. I flashed it the peace sign in morse code on my way in today
Is there any list of places these things are located , 1 on 56 +310 another in Malone on rt 11 outside of the auto zone store , any other siteings?
If the entity that owns the cameras is not doing anything wrong, then they should have no problem with the public knowing their name. What are they afraid of?
“If they think they need to snoop on me, the law used to say they needed a reason and a warrant.”
PNElba, in a public place?
I like the comment about the cultures in your car. Back in the pre-9/11 days I was flying from Paris to Montreal and had a carry on. It was a styrofoam cooler with dry ice and a 50ml tube for “something” from the lab I was working on (it was perfectly harmless). The customs person in Montreal told me to open it up. As soon as they saw the fog from the dry ice coming out of the box they told me to close it and I was free to quickly move along and enter Canada. No more questions just get that away from me. Where would I end up today? The world has changed.
If you don’t know who has these cameras,but you want to send them a message,then write something on your front license plate to show your displeasure.Mine says (get a real job).
Maybe they are just plain boxes put up to piss people off and to start conversations like this. People aren’t that smart and will often fight when they have something to hide.
I am sure there is a reason for them by someone or some agency.
Maybe it’s part of Obama care and they are sterilizing guns! To help the Muslims and turn the whites into a Minority!!
RUN, MOVE AWAY FROM MALONE AND FRANKLIN CO!!!
PNElba, in a public place?
Paul, yes. I believe this issue is akin to attaching a GPS to someones car to record where they are going. That has been ruled unconstitutional.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/us/police-use-of-gps-is-ruled-unconstitutional.html?pagewanted=all
We’d all better “watch ourselves” or we will find ourselves living in “1984”.