Things are looking up in a small northern Maine town – and residents are outraged.
Looking up in two senses.
Surveillance cameras in Houlton, some posted high up on poles, are allegedly being used by municipal workers to look up information about local folks.
Creepy is as creepy was.
Municipal employees are supposedly using the cameras, which were installed last year, to research details about people and vehicles, according to data obtained by the Bangor Daily News through a Freedom of Access Act request.
The paper says it determined that staffers from various town departments – including police, public works, recreation, code enforcement and civic center – used the cameras for gathering intelligence on locals.
They reportedly turned them on or searched them outside work hours and even in the middle of the night.
The question is whether the town violated state law aimed at limiting the use of facial-surveillance technology.
Town officials have insisted that the cameras were being used only to protect town property and buildings.
The cameras include five run by the police department, three by the fire department, five by public works, three by town hall, three by the recreation center and six by the civic center.
The Bangor paper reports that town employees gave out more than 30 login passwords, and that unidentified users accessed the system at least twice.
Employees also apparently used the cameras’ more advanced functions to search for specific people and vehicles, the access logs show.
That included 4,867 searches for vehicles, according to the data.
The camera controversy began last year when Police Chief Tim DeLuca told town councilors that officials were preparing to have 50 cameras installed.
Residents quickly expressed concerns about privacy and cost.
Craig Harriman, a town resident who was trying to get answers about camera use, locations, data storage, privacy protections and cost, sued twice for alleged violations regarding requests for information.
