Police look at camera

The Northwestern
Aug. 22, 2005

That famous lyric by rock group “The Police” — the one that goes “I’ll be watching you” — may soon have a very literal interpretation in Oshkosh when the airplanes come buzzing into town.

There are no specific concerns or threats, but the Winnebago County police and the Department of Homeland Security have a new $25,000 set of high-tech peepers on order, one intended to zero in on potential terrorism threats at Wittman Regional Airport.

The wireless camera system, part of a Homeland Security-prescribed “Buffer Zone Protection Plan” for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture convention, will be able to zoom in on possible terrorists who may be lurking among the throng at Oshkosh’s annual fly-in.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department also argues its latest Homeland-Security-funded tools could also be used in more routine police work. Vandals, even disorderly revelers at the Country USA music festival could be easily caught on the mobile cameras from some distance — no need for a roving officer to spot trouble.

“(The cameras) have a system so if something is identified we can be recording,” Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Bill Tedlie said. “The nice thing is it can be utilized for something other than terrorist-type activities. We can look for anything else going on in law enforcement interests.”

Tedlie said anyone with fears about “Big Brother” peering on everyday activities needn’t worry. There have been few to no questions about how often local police might use the cameras. The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $25,097 Homeland Security grant for them earlier this week.

When not eyeballing potential terrorist threats, police envision the cameras helping catch vandals or maybe monitoring traffic during high-volume times at high-accident roadways, Tedlie said.

He said Homeland Security officials identified AirVenture as a “potential target,” given the international fly-in’s tens of thousands of participants and spectators.

The sensitive cameras, he said, were part of a package suggested to make AirVenture “less attractive as a possible target.” The other pieces of the plan include a monitoring system, barriers and night vision goggles that will be “typically used by SWAT teams,” Tedlie said.

Martin Gruberg, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science professor and American Civil Liberties Union representative, said the Sheriff’s Department rationale for the equipment appears to reserve the cameras for specific uses.

“I can understand from the Sheriff’s Department point of view, if you’re going to get the money you don’t just want to use it for one week a year,” Gruberg said. “You want to justify it as something that has efficacy throughout the year. I’m not certain whether you’re going to be trespassing on privacy. Certainly, the EAA would be an attractive target for terrorists.”

For any skeptics worried about police abuse of the high-tech equipment, Tedlie said “there are certainly laws on the books that don’t allow us” to spy on innocents.

“We need the public to be on our side and help us out with these things and I don’t want to give the public ammunition to think we are Big Brother,” Tedlie said. “We’re here to work together and take care of problems.”