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eye in the sky

By Colin Campbell 3/22 9:21am

eye in the sky

(Photo: Getty)

Mayor Bloomberg on Drones: ‘You Can’t Keep the Tides From Coming In’

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has concerns about controversial drones watching the city’s population, but he simply sees them as an inevitability.

“We’re just going into a different world, uncharted,” he said during his weekly WOR radio program, pointing to ubiquitous cameras on the outside of buildings. “Like it or not, what people can do–or governments can do–is different and you can to some extent control [it], but you can’t keep the tides from coming in. We’re going to have more visibility and less privacy. I don’t see how you stop that. It’s not a question whether I think it’s good or bad, I just don’t see how you can stop that because we’re going to have them.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 3/01 3:27pm

eye in the sky

(Photo: Getty)

Assemblyman to Introduce Legislation Limiting Drones in New York

New York may join the list of states across the country that have been curtailing the use of unmanned drones. Newly-elected Bronx Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda just announced he is “preparing legislation to circumscribe the domestic usage of drones.”

“The Assemblyman believes that not enough attention is being paid to their operations in the United States, and envisions that without appropriate safeguards, they can be used for malicious and intrusive purposes,” a press release from Mr. Sepulveda’s office declared. “Mr. Sepulveda is open to coordinating with civil libertarian groups to ensure that any bill originating from his office will be adequately comprehensive to “stay ahead” of this burgeoning technology.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/27/12 8:33am

eye in the sky

(Photo: Getty)

Ray Kelly: ‘Spying’ Is a ‘Pejorative Term’

Congressman Pete King, hosting John Gambling’s radio show this morning, interviewed New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly about the recent criticism the NYPD has received over its extensive surveillance of Muslim businesses and mosques. Both the interviewer and interviewee blasted the media for calling the NYPD’s actions “spying.”

“I just wish the media would show some responsibility and use the words ‘surveillance’ or ‘police investigation’ rather than ‘spying.’ To use that term, to be accusing you of ‘spying,’ is, to me, really offensive,” Mr. King said, asking Mr. Kelly what he thought of the issue.

“It’s a pejorative term, it sells well,” Mr. Kelly responded. “They forget we’ve the subject of 14 plots since 9/11 … We’ve been lucky. We just have been lucky.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/21/12 3:09pm

eye in the sky

(Photo: Getty)

Bloomberg Defends NYPD Spying on Muslim Students, Rafting Trips [Video]

It was recently revealed that the NYPD secretly monitored college students throughout the Northeast, something that received particularly strong criticism from the president of Yale University, Richard Levin, who wrote “the police surveillance based on religion, nationality, or peacefully expressed political opinions is antithetical to the values of Yale, the academic community, and the United States.” After Mayor Michael Bloomberg finished a press conference earlier this afternoon, he was nonplussed when asked about Mr. Levin’s remarks.

“I don’t know why keeping the country safe is antithetical to the values of Yale,” he responded. “Yale’s freedoms to do research, to teach, to give people a place to say what they want to say, is defended by the law enforcement throughout this country that works very hard to make sure that we are safe.”

“Of course we’re going to look at anything that’s publicly available in the public domain and we have an obligation to do so. It is to protect the very things that let Yale survive,” he added. Read More