Did you read the News story about using the helicopter in catching a stolen car? I did and really did not spare another thought to the matter, except the thought that a helicopter is useful for following and guiding ground units to avoid the need for high speed chases to catch criminals in vehicles.

Until I was standing near the Salvation Army watching the helicopter circle time after time, six, seven, eight times… just up there watching. Then a member of the homeless community told me about the ‘copter seeming to follow him as he walked from the Salvation Army to Wal-Mart. It just sat there hovering, as if waiting for him to come running out of the store after stealing something. After all, every police officer knows if you need to be dealing with the Salvation Army or are a member of the homeless community, you belong to a class of people who are doing (or will be doing) something illegal.

This got me thinking about the privacy questions and issues raised by not only the helicopter, but by the technology available to “law enforcement” in general. Think about it. How often is something like the ‘copter needed to accomplish a specific purpose or task? What is it doing the rest of the time? It spends the vast majority of its air time just sitting up there, providing a bird’s eye view to peep at everyone and anyone.

If you raised this point with the Abbotsford police department I am sure they will have fine words to reassure the public and spin this spying as not something the public needs “bother their non-police heads” about. Trust us. I admit that my view is coloured by my experiences with the police interactions with the homeless community. After all, it is far easier to spot an illegal tent in the woods from above that it is to notice actual property theft crimes. Which reflects why so much police time is wasted moving along the homeless, while the only reason to report stolen property is to obtain a police file number for insurance claim purposes. As if the police cannot waste enough resources harassing the homeless enough from the ground, they now can do it from the air.

You cannot UN-invent the ‘copter, besides which it has some very useful purposes. However, it also has a large potential for misuse and raises some very Orwellian questions concerning its “big brother is watching” abilities. We need to address these issues not by burying our heads in the sand but by thinking about and putting in place safeguards to protect the publics right to Privacy.

We need clear policies and guidelines designed to protect us from any unreasonable spying, protecting our right to, and expectations of, reasonable privacy. We also need some way to provide “encouragement” for obedience to these guidelines.

Based on my experiences of the way the police behave towards the homeless, the feedback I have gotten from members of the general public about their interactions with our local police force and the privacy protection issues technology is raising I think that it is time the general public had input into police behaviour and some influence on police priorities. This is why I believe that the citizens of Abbotsford must exert civilian control over our police department. The way to do this is with a civilian board overseeing the department and civilian review of police actions and complaints against the members of the Abbotsford Police Department.

PS it is back again this weekend and behaving in the annoying manner of one of thyose people who insist on looking over your shoulder constantly to read what you are reading or see what you are doing – it is just with the their great height there are many more shoulders for them to look over.