Editorials
Friday, September 6, 1996
Surveillance cameras
could improve safety
GEORGE Orwell's novel "1984" immortalized the expression, "Big Brother is watching you." Big Brother (government) will soon be watching you more closely than ever before if a proposal to install public surveillance cameras on Honolulu streets is approved.
The Honolulu Police Department is considering the idea on the basis of a study done as a result of a request by a member of the Mayor's Downtown/Chinatown Task Force. The focus of the proposal is Chinatown - the area bordered by River, King, Bethel and Beretania streets - an area of high rates of street crime, particularly drug trafficking and prostitution.
The study found that cameras could reduce fear, increase business, improve the image of the area and increase police officer safety by acting as a backup. Similar systems are in place in Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Va., Tacoma, Wash., and New Orleans. The Washington, D.C., Metro system uses cameras. London, often a target of terrorists, has an extensive system.
Honolulu residents are accustomed to surveillance cameras in banks, some buildings and at automatic teller machines. But exposure to cameras on the street would be a new experience for many, and some would find it an objectionable intrusion on their privacy. Others would accept it as a step toward improved security. Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, favors surveillance cameras.
In a less crowded, less dangerous world, the idea of constant exposure to cameras on the street might have prompted widespread protests about Big Brother. Today, many might not like it but our bet is most would accept it as a necessary response to the growth of crime. What, after all, is the difference in terms of privacy between being watched by a camera and being watched by a police officer? And cameras are a lot cheaper.
Yeltsin's health
AFTER weeks of official denials that Russian President Boris Yeltsin was ill, Yeltsin himself has confirmed widespread suspicion and announced he will undergo heart surgery. His acknowledgement is a departure from the longtime Soviet practice of concealing the ill health of leaders. Yeltsin's operation and recovery to full health hopefully will end the power struggles his ailing condition has created within the Kremlin. It goes without saying that Washington and other foreign capitals are watching developments with concern.
Airport security
ALTHOUGH the cause of the explosion aboard TWA Flight 800 remains unknown, the suspicion that it was a bomb prompted President Clinton to appoint a commission to propose ways to strengthen security at the nation's airports and airlines.
Whether the state or the federal government should shoulder the cost is another question. In any case, this is one government expense that few people are likely to complain about.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor