Cameras put focus on civil liberties

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NEW YORK -- Bob Brown is a true believer, perhaps a little paranoid to some minds, but nevertheless a believer. His faith rests in the scary idea that the surveillance of New Yorkers by public and private watchers is proceeding at an Orwellian pace.

"We're putting in place an infrastructure to track people that recalls the days of the Stasi," he said recently, referring to East Germany's secret police during the Cold War. The word landed jarringly amid the lilacs and cherry blossoms of Washington Square Park on a sunny spring day.

Mr. Brown, bearded and booted, kept his eyes trained on the large NYPD van that monitors the myriad of cameras -- 11 by his count -- within the park, not to mention the 77 cameras he claims New York University has deployed. An NYU spokesman said even if he knew he would not reveal the exact number.

A sign at the northwest entrance to the park hints at what the watchers are watching: "Drug sellers and buyers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent."

Chess players, strollers and the occasional junkie seem impervious to the uniformed police who are as much a part of the Sunday scenery as Mr. Brown. He leads "video surveillance" walking tours throughout the city to point out the locations and capabilities of cameras in high-traffic neighborhoods such as Wall Street, Times Square and the United Nations.

The events of September 11 to the contrary, Mr. Brown is convinced that Americans' Fourth Amendment rights against "unreasonable search and seizures" are teetering on the brink.

"Surveillance never prevents a crime. It simply gets splendid footage of it afterwards," he told his visitors. "We have excellent footage of Mohamed Atta walking through airport security on the morning of September 11. He was very well photographed and the attack wasn't stopped."

The Brooklyn-born Mr. Brown has his detractors; the mayor's office for one.

"The NYPD has shown it can be a very effective tool without impeaching on civil liberties," said Edward Skyler, spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "Washington Square Park is no longer overrun by drug dealers."