In our first episode, we take a look at John Quaglione’s proposed “Eyes on the Streets” program. It involves setting up an incident-based NYPD webcam database. Dan and Rachel dig into whether it’s a good idea and look into the possible pitfalls. Is quality of life on a downturn, and is this the right solution if it is?

News & Updates

Life comes at you fast. Here are some post-recording developments and additional news tidbits.

• City Council candidate Justin Brannan comes out with his position strongly in favor of more neighborhood policing – Brannan had also made his position known during a community debate.
• NYC School Murder: We mentioned that the murder was reportedly connected to a “beef”; shortly after recording it came out that there may have been bullying involved. The school also installed metal detectors almost immediately.
• Bob Capano, who lost the GOP primary to Republican candidate John Quaglione, has joined the City Council race under the Reform Party. He participated in a community debate this past week.
• Justin Brannan, Bob Capano, and John Quaglione participated in their first Town Hall Forum this past week. There are three additional upcoming debates:
  • Tuesday 10/10 at 8pm: Dyker Heights Civic Debate at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 1072 80th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11228
  • Tuesday 10/17 at 7pm: Bay Ridge Community Council Debate at Xaverian High School, 7100 Shore Road, Brooklyn, NY 11209
  •  Thursday 10/26 on NY1: Televised debate @ 7 & 10 PM.

National Headlines of Interest

• Congressman Dan Donovan Announces Series of “Coffee With Your Congressman” meetings. RSVPs are encouraged but not required. | RSVP via his Congressional Website  [Ed. Note: Dan appears to be making some hard right turns to recapture the right by proving he “has the President’s back,” while simultaneously  offering coffee sessions with his more moderate constituents.]
• In other Donovan news, he voted Yea on HR 36, which bans all abortions after 20 weeks. He previously voted for the same act, after saying in his original campaign to replace Michael Grimm, that he would not place federal legislation between women and their right to choose.
• Speaking of Grimm, the ex-Congressman has announced his candidacy for the GOP Congressional primary in NY CD-11. Grimm is a former felon who threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony. He’s also now being championed by an ousted Bannon.

Game on! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/UOyYP5fFfN

Michael Grimm (@RealMGrimm) October 4, 2017

Show Notes

The News Rundown

• De Blasio and Free School Lunches
  • The largest school district in the US just started offering free lunch for all 1.1 million students (Business Insider)
  • School Food NYC website (SchoolFoodNYC.org)
• Nicole Malliotakis Policy Positions
  • Malliotakis Wants Armed, Retired Officers To Patrol City Schools (NY Post)
  • Malliotakis Calls for an End to NYC as Sanctuary Cities – March 28th (WNYC)
  • Malliotakis: NYC Should Comply With All Federal Requests to Hand Over Immigrants – July 6th (NY Post)
    Malliotakis Will Keep NYC A Sanctuary City, But Go After Serious Criminals July 26 (NY Post)
• Marty Golden, NYPD Traffic Cameras, and Bay Ridge Terrorist Lie
  • Speed Cameras Get Traction In Albany, But Marty Golden Promises to Obstruct
  • Pol made up Brooklyn’s 9/11 Connection To Defend Drumpf Travel Ban

Quaglione’s ‘Eyes on the Street’ Proposal

• Quaglione’s ‘Eyes on the Street’ Announcement:

This morning, I held a press conference with local residents to propose the creation of a city-wide photo and video database base overseen by the NYPD with data provided by civilians that could help police stop crime, prevent crime, and arrest those responsible for crime. 

Posted by John Quaglione for City Council 2017 on Friday, April 28, 2017

• Sample package theft videos: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04
• Bay Ridge Crime Statistics:
  • 68th Precinct CompStat Crime Report (pulled 9/30/2017)
  • Man Forces Way Into Woman’s Brooklyn Home, Beats Her With Vase From NY Daily News (Jan. 22, 2017)
  • NYPD: Neighborhood Policing
  • NYPD CompStat 2.0
• NYPD Surveillance Programs, News, and Misconduct
  • Who’s Watching? Video Camera Surveillance in New York City and the Need for Public Oversight – Fall 2006 Report from the New York Civil Liberties Union
  • The NYPD Is Using Mobile X-Ray Vans to Spy on Unknown Targets – An overview of NYPD X-Ray Vans via. The Atlantic (October 19, 2015)
  • Here’s how the NYPD’s Stingray technology can spy on New Yorker’s cell phones – from the Daily News (March 9, 2017)
  • VIPER Squad Surveillance Video showing a Suicide released to porn website –  from the New York Post (April 1st, 2004) [Ed. Note – We mistakenly referred to this as a murder on the podcast when it was in fact a suicide, which frankly makes it even more disturbing.]
  • Police Video Caught a Couple’s Intimate Moment on a Manhattan Rooftop – More detail about the NYPD helicopter that spied on citizens rather than covering a protest. From the NY Times (Dec. 22nd, 2005)
  • NYPD Rubber Gun Rooms – An excellent overview from the Village Voice. (March 21st, 2011) [Ed. Note. While the number and cost of the cops assigned to the ‘Rubber Gun Room’ have decreased since the article was written, they still exist and are primarily used for low-level surveillance monitoring.]
  • Wave of Protests After Grand Jury Doesn’t Indict Officer in Eric Garner Chokehold Case – from the NY Times (Dec. 3rd, 2014)
  • Review Board Recommends Stiffest Punishment for Officer in Garner Case From New York Times (Sept. 28, 2o17)
  • On-duty NYPD officers ‘handcuffed 18-year-old girl, took her to deserted spot and raped her’ From the Independent (Oct. 1, 2017)
  • Updated N.Y.P.D. Anti-Crime System to Ask: ‘How We Doing?’ – An updated look at the CompStat system, it’s legacy, and where it’s going. From the NY Times (May 8th, 2017)
  • Lawmakers Probe Willfull Abuses of Power by NSA Analysts From Bloomberg.com (Aug. 24, 2015)
  • Surveillance & Society: Informants, Provocateurs and Entrapment: examining the Histories of the FBI’s PATCON and the NYPD’s Muslim Surveillance Program – From Vanity Fair (July 14th, 2016)
  • New York City is Making Its Citizens Safer By Overseeing Police Technology – A quick overview of the POST act calling for increased legal oversight of police surveillance. From the Huffington Post (Apr. 3rd, 2017)
  • Political Economy and the Austrailian Government’s CCTV Programme: An Exploration of State-Sponsored Street Cameras an the Cultivation of Consent and Business in Local Communities
• Webcams, Surveillance and Privacy
  • Brianna Wu vs. the Gamergate Troll Army – We briefly spoke about Brianna Wu running for Congress. Here’s some excellent background about what she’s been through. From Inc. (April 2015)
• Jane Jacobs and Eyes on the Street
  • Study: When retail stores close down, neighborhood crime goes up – From Curbed (July 5th, 2017)
  • The Prophecies of Jane Jacobs – An overview of Jane Jacobs and how she remains relevant in the modern world. From The Atlantic (November 2016)
  • Should Online Shopping Change How We Use Space? – Linking Online Shopping, increasingly shuttered retail stores along commercial avenues, and ‘Eyes on the Street’ style development. From Shelterforce (Feb. 16th, 2017)
  • How the False Story of Kitty Genovese’s Murder Went Viral – More detail on the Kitty Genovese case. From NY Mag (Apr. 5, 2016)