Discontent Follows King County Library System Decision to Remove Security Cameras
The Seattle Times reported this week that The King County Library System is removing security cameras from its libraries, citing patron privacy concerns in handing over video surveillance to police departments. The usual paranoia over government-sanctioned surveillance is present in reader comments on the news article, but so are a majority of disapproving comments from area readers. Combined with displeasure from the Des Moines Police department quoted in the article, the decision seems to be getting little support from the KingCounty community.
Previously, the library system’s policy required police to obtain a court order to access surveillance tapes when a case required evidence from the library cameras. According to Des Moines police chief John O'Leary, that warrant requirement already delayed investigations, but that policy was still better than completely removing the cameras. “If the decision was simply to leave the cameras in and continue under current policy, I'd be happy with that,” O’Leary said.