San Francisco top cop calls for more cameras

San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr thinks installing more security cameras along Market Street could prevent a tragedy like the Boston bombings from happening here.

Footage of Boston bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inspired Suhr to propose beefing up surveillance along Market Street, because the street plays host to popular major events.

Parades like Pride and Chinese New Year, and major events like Bay-to-Breakers and Critical Mass, all bring thousands of people to San Francisco.

Suhr will introduce his proposal at an upcoming City Hall meeting, but until then, he shared with The AP his goals for adding extra surveillance cameras:

“For us, it would be great that every time we had a major event we had a command post where you could have a bank of video cameras on top of having all the police and public eyes and ears that are out there.”

Not everyone is fully on board with Suhr’s idea, however. Nicole Ozer, an attorney representing ACLU of Northern California wants some questions answered first:

“We want to know specifically how they are going to be used, how long will the footage be kept, and how he’s going to make sure the cameras protect the rights to privacy and free speech.”

The ACLU has a long history of voicing their concerns about security cameras. In a report published in 2007 titled “Under the Watchful Eye,” the ACLU argues that security cameras are ineffective in fighting crime.