Turning Municipal Video Surveillance Cameras Into Municipal Webcams

Increasingly, municipal administrations across the globe are operating video surveillance camera systems in public spaces, with the camera images available only to security personnel. This paper argues that it is possible and desirable to convert some municipal surveillance cameras into municipal webcams, with the images available not only to security personnel but also to everyone using the Internet. The authors provide an overview of municipal video surveillance and municipal webcams, reviewing findings from recent international research and discussing current municipal webcams. Key technical and social issues are discussed. Camera views of public spaces are intrinsically similar for both municipal video surveillance and webcams. The democratization of surveillance implies giving citizens more control over the technology affecting them. A case study discusses the technical infrastructure in the City of Fredericton, Canada that will allow the municipal cameras to be converted from video surveillance cameras into municipal webcams.