The DEA and ICE are hiding surveillance cameras in streetlights

guest · Nov 10, 2018

The DEA and ICE are hiding surveillance cameras in streetlights
November 9, 2018
https://qz.com/1458475/the-dea-and-ice-are-hiding-surveillance-cameras-in-streetlights/

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have hidden an undisclosed number of covert surveillance cameras inside streetlights around the country, federal contracting documents reveal.

Christie Crawford, who owns Cowboy Streetlight Concealments [...]
“We do streetlight concealments and camera enclosures,” Crawford told Quartz. “Basically, there’s businesses out there that will build concealments for the government and that’s what we do. They specify what’s best for them, and we make it. And that’s about all I can probably say.”

However, she added: “I can tell you this—things are always being watched. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving down the street or visiting a friend, if government or law enforcement has a reason to set up surveillance, there’s great technology out there to do it.”
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The impact of surveillance cameras will increase as the development of facial recognition algorithms become more commonplace among law enforcement agencies.
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Minimalist · Dec 7, 2018

The DEA Is Hiding Surveillance Cameras in Vacuum Cleaners

A Denair, California-based company called the Special Services Group, LLC won a $42,595 DEA purchase order at the end of November for a “custom Shop Vac concealment with Canon M50B.” Canon describes the M50B as a “high-sensitivity…PTZ [Pan-Tilt-Zoom] network camera” that “captures video with remarkable color and clarity, even in very low-light environments.” The M50B retails for about $3,400; the acquisition is being funded by the DEA’s Office of Investigative Technology and is presumably intended to assist agents in a specific operation, rather than for wider, passive monitoring.
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https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-te...-surveillance-cameras-vacuum-cleaners/153365/

mirimir · Dec 7, 2018

Damn, can't even trust the cleanup staff

Circuit · Dec 7, 2018

That's cool, anything to get the meth off the streets!
Most people don't care about internet privacy why should this be different?

guest · Jan 9, 2020

This Secretive Surveillance Company Is Selling Cops Cameras Hidden in Gravestones
Special Services Group also offers cameras hidden in child carseats and vacuum cleaners
January 9, 2020
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/...is-selling-cops-cameras-hidden-in-gravestones

A surveillance vendor that works with U.S. government agencies, such as the FBI, DEA, and ICE, is marketing spying capabilities to local police departments, including cameras that are hidden inside a tombstone, a baby car seat, and a vacuum cleaner.

The brochure highlights some of the capabilities on offer to law enforcement agencies, from the novel to the sometimes straight-up bizarre.

"I think one of the biggest concerns I have is about the cost/size/capabilities of these devices. They keep getting cheaper, smaller and more capable all the time, and it’s unlikely that only law enforcement will be the only actors using them," Freddy Martinez, a policy analyst from government accountability group Open The Government who obtained the brochure through a public records request told Motherboard in an email.
Special Services Group, the vendor behind the brochure, does not advertise its products publicly [...] the company's slogan is "Constant Vigilance."
The company is so secretive that, when asked for comment for this story, it threatened VICE with legal action if we published this article.
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The brochure is available here, starting from page 93.

"Due to the critical missions of our customers, we have chosen not to place our product information on our website. Please use the contact section of our site to request more information," the company's website reads.
The brochure, dubbed "Black Book" by its authors, contains a cornucopia of surveillance devices.
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guest · Aug 15, 2020

Cops Tap Smart Streetlights Sparking Controversy and Legislation
August 8, 2020
https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/sensors/remote-sensing/cops-smart-street-lights

When San Diego started installing its smart streetlights in 2017, city managers envisioned that the data they gathered would help improve city operations—like selecting streets for bicycle lanes, identifying dangerous intersections for special attention, and figuring out where the city needed more parking.

Instead a $30 million project that had looked like it would put San Diego on the map as one of the “smartest” cities in the U.S. has mired it in battles over the way these systems are being used by law enforcement.
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The CityIQ streetlights are packed with technology.
Initially, at least, the data was expected to be used exclusively for civic analysis and planning and public convenience.

“There was an expectation when we launched this that it was not a law-enforcement system, Says Erik Caldwell, deputy chief operating officer for the City of San Diego. “That’s true; that’s not the primary purpose,” he adds. “The primary purpose is to gather data to better run the city.”
But in August 2018, everything changed. That’s when, while investigating a murder in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, a police officer looked up and saw one of the new smart streetlights. He realized the streetlight’s video cameras had a perfect view of the crime scene—one unavailable from the various security cameras in the area.
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“The data sits at the sensors unless we have a specific request, when a violent crime or fatal accident occurs. It is very surgical. We only use it in a reactive way,” Jordon states, not as surveillance.
For better or worse, San Diego did pave the way for other municipalities looking into smart city technology.
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guest · Aug 6, 2022

San Diego Citizens Wrest Control of Surveillance Tech Away From Police
Organizers in San Diego have secured a major win after a long fight against unbridled police surveillance.
August 6, 2022

San Diego is joining a growing list of cities taking official action against the unregulated use of emergent police surveillance technologies.

Community-led efforts to address potential civil liberties violations, spurred by the deployment of more 3,000 police cameras across the city, finally paid off Friday when the San Diego City Council voted unanimously to stop police from making any future decisions about surveillance unilaterally.
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The ordinance was backed by the TRUST SD coalition, more than 30 organizations that came together to combat the secretive use of “smart streetlights” acquired by the city in 2016. San Diego had approved the lights —which incidentally came equipped with cameras and other sensors accessible by police — under an initiative established to lower the city’s energy bill.

San Diego’s then-mayor, Kevin Faulconer, ordered the cameras turned off in Sept. 2020 amid a wave of activist attention while new privacy safeguards were contemplated.
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Backlash against secret streetlight surveillance cameras prompts San Diego to create new privacy board (April 5, 2022)

The backlash against secret surveillance of San Diego residents finally led to new legislation Tuesday when the City Council unanimously approved a new privacy advisory board that will evaluate all future surveillance proposals.

The new privacy board is a direct result of the city installing thousands of special streetlights five years ago that were secretly equipped with sophisticated surveillance tools including cameras and microphones.
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