City officials have announced an expansion of L.A.'s video surveillance program to the streets of Hollywood, beginning with a camera at the intersection of Cahuenga and Hollywood. Mayor Hahn, who crowed about the success of the pilot surveillance program in MacArthur Park, was on hand at the unveiling, joining Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (who has made spying on citizens of the Windy City a central pillar of his law enforcement policy, and who flew in for the occasion) in cheering for the intrusive technology.

The cameras were donated by the Hollywood Entertainment Business Improvement District, a quasi-governmental agency funded by a tax on district businesses, with an assist from Councilmembers Garcetti and LaBonge.

The Hollywood BID has done an excellent job making Hollywood safe for the Gap and the Walt Disney Company, and Garcetti and LaBonge are steadfast advocates for the area, but do we really need to resort to Big Brother tactics to reduce crime? Is giving up personal privacy a reasonable trade-off for what city leaders say would be safer streets?

Next time you're surreptitiously picking your nose, or adjusting your pantyhose (or both), do you really want some faceless bureaucrat watching you?

Photo liberated from Oil Empire. I'm sure they won't mind, since I'm sticking it to the man.
  ¶ 8:16 PM