Ogden city has been an object of both mirth and interest for its plans to bring a crime-fighting blimp to Junction City to hover over our residents. It reminds us a bit of the "snoop patrols" in George Orwell's dystopian novel, "1984." On the plus side, we don't think that "blimpy" is capable of detecting thought-crime.
But under the guidance of Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, the city is working hard to make sure crime-fighting cameras are placed all over the city. We'd wager that if some Ogden officials get their way, there may not be a street in the city where one can surreptitiously pick his or her nose. An "eye in the sky," "real crime center" is planned that will one day, if planners' goals are realized, link to thousands of government and private security cameras around the city. Ogden itself has 200 cameras ready to be linked.
The city also plans to have little "Wall-E"-like robots attached to cars scanning every license plate on cars that drive by. What happens the first time "Wall-E" goofs and mom, dad and the kids are forced out of the car at gunpoint?
This is sinister and, to refer to Orwell again, very Big Brother-like. We do not believe that Ogden needs this much security. We're convinced that all these crime-fighting gadgets can and likely will be abused. It's human nature to take things too far, particularly when a city's police department is packed with enough "toys" to rival New York City or Los Angeles. In fact, if Ogden gets its blimp, we'll be the first city with a cruising, crime-fighting blimp.
This is overkill to the 'nth degree. And it will get worse. It's our experience that government overbearance creeps up on society bit by bit. Worse, we accept it little by little. Where is the evidence that Ogden's current efforts to fight crime, many of which have been commendable, are so unsuccessful that we need constant surveillance?
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