Denver's surveillance system draws praise, concerns - The Denver Post

Denver's surveillance system draws praise, concerns - The Denver Post
High-tech video cameras installed throughout the city captured images from about 300 crimes in the past 18 months and helped Denver police make about 80 arrests, authorities say.

And the already robust video system has become so popular along some of Denver's retail corridors that it's getting a financial boost from the private sector. The Colfax Business Improvement District will give police $250,000 to buy and install 12 more cameras along East Colfax Avenue.

Target Corp. is donating $100,000 for police surveillance cameras at George Washington, Kennedy and North high schools. Police already have installed cameras at East, Lincoln, Manual and Montbello high schools, and they monitor video feeds from a separate Denver Public Schools system.

Recent federal grants will allow police to put up cameras at areas viewed as potential terrorism targets, including Cherry Creek mall.

In all, police plan to add 33 video cameras this summer to the arsenal of 80. Some of the existing cameras may be moved to other locations after a review of the system.

Mel Thompson, Denver's deputy safety manager, called the police's High Activity Location Observation program — or HALO — a "force multiplier."

"We would like to put a cop at every corner. But in reality, who can put a cop at every corner?" said Lt. Ernie Martinez, who runs the program. "What we can do is use technology to leverage our assets and help out our officers."

The system worries civil-liberties groups.

"Monitoring public spaces through real-time video surveillance erodes privacy, inhibits freedom and chills expression in public spaces, with little or no benefit in reduced criminal activity," said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

Silverstein said that although Fourth Amendment case law has established that individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public places,

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