this is a great example of the "sousveillance" or bottom-
up=surveillance trend that my colleagues and I have been tracking at
the Institute for the Future
---
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/18/youve_got_mail.php
January 18, 2007
You've Got New Yorkers' Mail, 911 and 311
Hello, cellphone vigilantism!
As part of his State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg announced
some new technology for New Yorkers.
This year, we'll begin a revolutionary innovation in crime-
fighting: Equipping "911" call centers to receive digital images and
videos New Yorkers send from cell phones and computers something no
other city in the world is doing.
If you see a crime in progress or a dangerous building condition
you'll be able to transmit images to 911, or online to NYC.GOV. And
we'll start extending the same technology to 311 to allow New Yorkers
to step forward and document non-emergency quality of life concerns
holding City agencies accountable for correcting them quickly and
efficiently.
City Hall should totally start its own Flickr group - as should the
NYPD! Sadly, the Mayor did not divulge the email address or number
you will be able to send images or video to - maybe he do that in an
extra special message via YouTube.
The mayor's "criminal justice coordinator" John Feinblatt told the
Times, "This is absolutely brand new for law enforcement, and it’s
absolutely new for a call center like 311, but by no means is it new
technology. So what we’re going to do is take applications that
already exist in the industry and adapt them to 911 and 311."
Feinblatt and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly both pointed to the
incident where Thao Nguyen took a cellphone picture of Dan Hoyt
pleasuring himself on a subway, posted it on the Internet, all
leading to Hoyt's arrest (this wasn't his first offense, either!).
Others have used cellphones to try to nab wrongdoers as well. Civil
rights attorney Norman Siegel tells the Post he thinks would be "no
civil liberties objections" if the photographs are of "criminal
behavior."
And New Yorkers would be able to log quality of life issues the same
way to 311. How very reminiscent of Andrew Rasiej's "We Fix NYC"
pothole tracking! But we don't recommend you email 311 every time
when you see that poop on the street because that'll get old.
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TELECOM-CITIES
Current searchable archives (Feb. 1, 2006 to present) at
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