美國林務局承認在公共土地上裝置監視攝像機

美國林務局承認在公共土地上裝置監視攝像機
US Forest Service admits putting surveillance cameras on public lands
Charleston man surprised when he found one while camping with daughter
查爾斯頓男人感到驚訝，當他與女兒露營時發現一部
BY TONY BARTELME
postandcourier.com
Published Monday, March 15, 2010

Last month, Herman Jacob took his daughter and her friend camping in the Francis Marion National Forest. While poking around for some firewood, Jacob noticed a wire. He pulled on it and followed it to a video camera and antenna.
上個月赫爾曼雅各帶著他的女兒和女兒的朋友在弗朗西斯馬里恩國家森林露營，雖然戳來戳去找一些柴，雅各注意到一個條電線，他拉它和沿着它去到一部攝像機和天線。
The camera didn't have any markings identifying its owner, so Jacob took it home and called law enforcement agencies to find out if it was theirs, all the while wondering why someone would station a video camera in an isolated clearing in the woods.
攝像機沒有任何標誌識別它的擁有者，因此雅各帶了它回家和致電執法機構，看看是否他們的，而同時奇怪為什麼會有人，設一台攝像機在樹林中的一片孤立空地。
He eventually received a call from Mark Heitzman of the U.S. Forest Service.
最後他接到從美國林務局馬克 Heitzman的一個電話。
In a stiff voice, Heitzman ordered Jacob to turn it back over to his agency, explaining that it had been set up to monitor "illicit activities." Jacob returned the camera but felt uneasy.
以一僵硬的聲音，Heitzman下令雅各帶它回他的機構，解釋說它被設置去監管“非法的活動。”雅各退回攝像機但感到不舒服。
Why, he wondered, would the Forest Service have secret cameras in a relatively remote camping area? What do they do with photos of bystanders?
為什麼，他奇怪，林務局有秘密攝像機，在一個相對偏遠的露營區？他們用旁觀者的照片會做什麼？
How many hidden cameras are they using, and for what purposes? Is this surveillance in the forest an effective law enforcement tool? And what are our expectations of privacy when we camp on public land?
他們在使用多少部隱藏的攝像機，目的是什麼？這在森林的監測是有效的執法工具嗎？和什麼是我們的私隱期望，當我們在公共土地上露營？
Officials with the Forest Service were hardly forthcoming with answers to these and other questions about their surveillance cameras. When contacted about the incident, Heitzman said "no comment," and referred other questions to Forest Service's public affairs, who he said, "won't know anything about it."
林務官員是難以為此和其它監視攝像機問題交出答案，當被聯繫去了解事件，Heitzman說：“無可奉告”，並轉介其它問題為林務的公共事務，他說：“將不知道它是怎麼回事。”
Heather Frebe, public affairs officer with the Forest Service in Atlanta, said the camera was part of a law enforcement investigation, but she declined to provide details.
亞特蘭大林務局公共事務人員希打菲比說，攝像機是執法機構調查的一部分，但她拒絕透露細節。
Asked how cameras are used in general, how many are routinely deployed throughout the Forest and about the agency's policies, Frebe also declined to discuss specifics. She said that surveillance cameras have been used for "numerous years" to "provide for public safety and to protect the natural resources of the forest. Without elaborating, she said images of people who are not targets of an investigation are "not kept."

In addition, when asked whether surveillance cameras had led to any arrests, she did not provide an example, saying in an e-mail statement: "Our officers use a variety of techniques to apprehend individuals who break laws on the national forest."

Video surveillance is nothing new, and the courts have addressed the issue numerous times in recent decades. The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, and over time the courts have created a body of law that defines what's reasonable, though this has become more challenging as surveillance cameras became smaller and more advanced.

In general, the courts have held that people typically have no reasonable level of privacy in public places, such as banks, streets, open fields in plain view and on public lands, such as National Parks and National Forests. In various cases, judges ruled that a video camera is effectively an extension of a law enforcement officer's eyes and ears. In other words, if an officer can eyeball a campground in person, it's OK to station a video camera in his or her place.

Jacob said he understands that law enforcement officials have a job to do but questioned whether stationing hidden cameras outweighed his and his children's privacy rights. He said the camp site they went to -- off a section of the Palmetto Trail on U.S. 52 north of Moncks Corner -- was primitive and marked only by a metal rod and a small wooden stand for brochures. He didn't recall seeing any signs saying that the area was under surveillance.

After he found the camera, he plugged the model number, PV-700, into his Blackberry, and his first hit on Google was a Web site offering a "law enforcement grade" motion-activated video camera for about $500. He called law enforcement agencies in the area, looking for its owner, and later got a call from Heitzman, an agent with the National Forest Service.

http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/03/15/1173660/us-forest-service-admits-putting.html