Letter: The Risks vs. Rewards of Surveillance

(The following letter was written by Mike Otten of Stonehouse Road)

Hello Justin,

First, thanks for being one of the most proactive and accessible mayors that we have had in our 50+ years in Scarsdale. I further appreciate your efforts with ConEd pricing, although they have apparently had little impact, as our utility seems incapable of out-of-the-box thinking, still resisting what could be a longer-term better solution to have the wiring moved in a managed way over time from telephone polls to underground.

I'm fine with License Plate Readers, but I do worry about the potential misuse of drones and live view cameras. I have 3 questions that I don't see clearly addressed:

1. Your letter specifies the number of Live View Cameras in other villages, but does not say how many Scarsdale currently has, or would have under the contract?

2. "No data would be accessible to third parties outside of SPD except through mutual agreements with law enforcement or by court order." How is this sufficient protection, given the current posture of the Department of Justice and to some extent the courts? One of my friends 'made' the "Enemies List" of Richard Nixon and was harassed by the IRS. If data exists, it can be accessed and mis-used. Here the risk versus reward in my view is unacceptable.

3. If we have 6 months to decide whether to cancel the contract, when are the 6 months up?

Thanks for requesting feedback, given that the risk is far more than just financial! We are seeing at a national level just how justice can be inadvertently 'weaponized' from both sides of the aisle.

All the best,

Michael Otten (former School Board President)
37 Stonehouse Road