Chicago Mayor to Mandate City Businesses Install Security Cameras
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is touting an unprecedented plan to require every licensed business in the city to install security cameras. The new rule would apply to businesses that are open for more than 12 hours per day and include outside and inside cameras, but exclude washrooms and changing areas, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Businesses are not pleased with the proposed plan and vowed to fight its implementation. They said it will create an expensive burden, stating it could add anywhere from $5000 to $20,000 to their costs, not including monitoring expenses. The Chicago Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper said there are approximately 12,000 businesses that would be covered by the new initiative, including 7,000 restaurants and more than 100 hotels.
Roper predicts if the plan is put into effect it will result in city businesses being open fewer hours and cost employees wages. Roper explained, "Some places will take a look at the cost and say, 'We'll only be open for one shift or a shift and a half. They'll take a look at their last two hours and say, 'I'm not making that much anyway, I'll just close earlier.' Employees will lose that money."
The proposed security cameras are only a small segment of Mayor Daley's Orwellian future. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the city has finalized a contract for Operation Virtual Shield, a plan to link 1,000 miles of "sometimes stand-alone fiber" into a unified "homeland security grid" that will be routed into an emergency response center. Mayor Daley thinks the ability of surveillance cameras knows no bounds. He explained, "Cameras really prevent much crime. Cameras also solve a lot of crime." The mayor further added, "The terrorist attacks in London were solved by cameras. The whole incident was solved by cameras."
The Liberty Zone and Capital Freedom also provide their commentary on this story.
Posted by Matthew Dailey at February 1, 2006 04:54 PM
http://www.lp.org/yourturn/archives/000206.shtml
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I love this! I feel safer already in the city of Chicago. Gee you think that maybe numbering everyone with a tattoo on their forehead will be next?
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is touting an unprecedented plan to require every licensed business in the city to install security cameras. The new rule would apply to businesses that are open for more than 12 hours per day and include outside and inside cameras, but exclude washrooms and changing areas, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Businesses are not pleased with the proposed plan and vowed to fight its implementation. They said it will create an expensive burden, stating it could add anywhere from $5000 to $20,000 to their costs, not including monitoring expenses. The Chicago Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper said there are approximately 12,000 businesses that would be covered by the new initiative, including 7,000 restaurants and more than 100 hotels.
Roper predicts if the plan is put into effect it will result in city businesses being open fewer hours and cost employees wages. Roper explained, "Some places will take a look at the cost and say, 'We'll only be open for one shift or a shift and a half. They'll take a look at their last two hours and say, 'I'm not making that much anyway, I'll just close earlier.' Employees will lose that money."
The proposed security cameras are only a small segment of Mayor Daley's Orwellian future. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the city has finalized a contract for Operation Virtual Shield, a plan to link 1,000 miles of "sometimes stand-alone fiber" into a unified "homeland security grid" that will be routed into an emergency response center. Mayor Daley thinks the ability of surveillance cameras knows no bounds. He explained, "Cameras really prevent much crime. Cameras also solve a lot of crime." The mayor further added, "The terrorist attacks in London were solved by cameras. The whole incident was solved by cameras."
The Liberty Zone and Capital Freedom also provide their commentary on this story.
Posted by Matthew Dailey at February 1, 2006 04:54 PM
http://www.lp.org/yourturn/archives/000206.shtml
==========================================================
I love this! I feel safer already in the city of Chicago. Gee you think that maybe numbering everyone with a tattoo on their forehead will be next?
