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Activists find camera inside box on power pole near union organizer’s home
- tyingq 6y agoPictures of the device: https://twitter.com/hunter_demster?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://twitter.com/hunter_demster?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7C...
- wrkronmiller 6y agoThere was a reddit post about someone accessing similar cameras a while ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23167592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23167592
- moltar 6y agoCan someone from the US please explain why would police surveil a union organizer? How is s/he a threat to the public?
- brendawalsh 6y agoI imagine somebody is ‘friends’ with the police and asks for help identifying who the organizer is associating with, so they can fire that person. It is a PTZ camera, so I am guessing they are trying to grab license plates. There is definitely a gray area between private detective work and police assisting with a favor.
- syshum 6y agoDo you want the conspiracy or official version? It is probable it has nothing to do with politics and the individuals (or people in the area) in question are suspects in a standard criminal activity. It is also possible it is political. The lack of transparency in government / police operations leads to this kind of speculation. The massive lose of trust in police (rightfully so) over the past few years also has eroded any "benefit of the doubt" people may have given them in the past Unless an arrest is made or a lawsuit files we will probably never know the real truth.
- kevingadd 6y agoIn the earlier days of the US one of the police department's responsibilities was breaking strikes, often by injuring or murdering union members: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_union_busting_in_the_United_States#Union_busting_with_police_and_military_force https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_union_busting_in_th...
- gorgoiler 6y agoAt least as far back as 2009 Pinkertons still existed. They were in the business of being contracted by major US companies to perform background checks on staff who needed high security clearance.
- duskwuff 6y agoThe Pinkerton Agency still exists now. Unlike Blackwater/Xe/Academi/whatever, they haven't even dropped the name. One gets the sense that they don't mind the associations the name's gathered.
- hansjorg 6y agoThey're now a subsidiary of Securitas AB, a Swedish company. Securitas is known for having their people wearing uniforms that are designed to be confused with local law enforcement and for heavy lobbying for privatisation of the prison industry in the Nordics. A great fit for Pinkerton.
- gorgoiler 6y agoAt least as recently as 2009, ahem.
- aasasd 6y agoAfaik those days ended only about a hundred years ago, perhaps after the Great Depression. Some say that things changed because the USSR showed what happens when workers seriously organize, plus Europe and Central/South America were too curious about socialism.
- frabbit 6y agoWhy do you think it is just the USA? Are you genuinely surprised or this just a baity-get-things-rolling type of question? Just off the top of my head this is one of the most famous (exposed) examples in the UK https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47457330 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47457330 Police were created explicitly to help with suppressing the threat that comes from anyone that earns their living by a wage from others.
- Dahoon 6y agoNot just the US, but the US and those that is trying hard to be just as bad (like the UK) are not like the rest of the western world. For example a union in the US versus one in Scandinavia is like comparing apples to ...something not even a fruit. The US unions are not real unions and haven't normalised since the war against the police and their mob ties.
- peteretep 6y agoA better link to the UK story: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43507728 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43507728 but note in the UK this was a major scandal, £250m of compensation paid, etc, rather than business as normal
- geoffpado 6y agoI mean… the fact that it’s in the news and notable enough that it was voted to the front page of HN suggests that it isn’t exactly “business as usual” in the US, either. Your link suggests it took six years for the Metropolitan Police to admit wrongdoing. This camera was found last week. Let’s give it time to actually blow up to “scandal” proportions.
- jacobush 6y agoI don’t know man, I hope this blows up to scandal levels in this case, but I have been hearing about these power pole cameras for a long time.
- moltar 6y ago
- Natsu 6y agoThe Twitter with the pics of this claims this is related to Operation Legend, so presumably they're investigating something related to that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Legend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Legend
- Dahoon 6y agoSo an operation against people who unite and protest legally and who are then beaten, killed or hunted like cattle? What better place than a union leader to catch "bad guys".
- jeffbee 6y agoThe Memphis Police Department has been under a federal consent decree for over 40 years. Spying on labor and civil rights groups is just part of their act. https://www.aclu-tn.org/blacklisted-memphis-police-surveillance-and-kendrick-v-chandler-a-timeline/ https://www.aclu-tn.org/blacklisted-memphis-police-surveilla...
- gorgoiler 6y agoTo be clear, the 1978 federal consent decree is essentially the federal government telling Memphis PD to quit their spying bullshit “or else”, and yet they’ve continued this surveillance anyway, over the years?
- throwaway0a5e 6y agoBecause the police's primary revenue stream is taxpayer money and therefore they are very interested in anyone who may affect political change for any reason.
- brendawalsh 6y agoWhat gave it away? The antennas? Some sort of high voltage RF device. Seriously, though, it is a PTZ camera, cellular modem, and battery with an exhaust fan.
- ashtonkem 6y agoThe accusation that the police are surveilling union organizers is extremely troubling, and harkens back to the early 20th century when cops killed union organizers. The police should stay out of such political matters; especially if they expect their continued funding to be above political reproach.
- stefco_ 6y agoGiven how prevalent police unions are, and how incredibly quick they are to raise complaints, you'd hope for more self-awareness/solidarity and less hypocrisy.
- frabbit 6y agoPolice unions have always been used to bust other unions. Expecting solidarity from them is madness. The police were created and exist for one role: stopping democracy because democracy implies socialism.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- smabie 6y agoPolice have existed long before democracy (and socialism). Also I don't follow on how democracy implies socialism.
- adrr 6y agoIrony if this was done for political reasons that it was by law enforcement who have a strong union.
- brendawalsh 6y agoDifferent union.
- riffic 6y agoNot ironic. Police unions are fundamentally different than other labor unions. This might spell it out for you: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-to-know-police-unions-labor-movement https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-to-know-police-unions-l...
- cardamomo 6y agoThank you for sharing this. I learned a lot about police unions' tactics from this article.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- angry_octet 6y agoI love that this is in Teen Vogue. It used to be that you'd only see this in Socialist Worker Daily or something.
- riffic 6y agoThe fact that it's Teen Vogue is 100% why I chose to link this and not any other article I could Google about cop unions.
- angry_octet 6y agoWhat I find most encouraging is that they wouldn't be printing it if there wasn't a receptive audience.
- wcoenen 6y agoSimilar story from 3 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23167592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23167592
- riffic 6y agoNothing mysterious about this. Surveillance has long been a known tactic of capital's resistance to what it deems a threat.
- peteretep 6y agoAh yes, it’s the response of _capital_, which explains the lack of surveillance in Communist states
- riffic 6y agoThe pendulum hasn't swung in that direction yet. I'd be concerned about both ends but the one we are in right now is the one to fear.
- peteretep 6y agoSure, but my point is that you are describing power not capital
- esarbe 6y agoThe tool of one set of mad men might well be the tool of another set of mad men.
- crististm 6y agoIs it possible that you're confusing capital(ism) with totalitarianism?
- herpderperator 6y agoThe camera in question is a Canon PTZ camera with 20x optical zoom, model VB-H41: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/network-video-solutions/all-network-cameras/vb-h41 https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/de...
- adolph 6y agoCell Modem is Sierra Wireless Airlink GX440 https://source.sierrawireless.com/devices/gx-series/gx440/#sthash.UkJb3mcC.e8h1IJNG.dpbs https://source.sierrawireless.com/devices/gx-series/gx440/#s...
- mike_d 6y agoThe device itself is an SSG Pole Camera, which is a common platform used by police forces across the country. Fun fact, it comes with a little generic RF keyfob that remotely power cycles it. https://paste.pics/c401ecf58e05477b51bdf0b849756860 https://paste.pics/c401ecf58e05477b51bdf0b849756860
- Kliment 6y agoSo you're saying I can build a thing that reboot-loops all hidden cameras within a radius around me?
- bostik 6y agoSounds like you're throwing a challenge to the Hackaday types out there. And amusingly enough, using cheap hardware to mess with RF devices around you reminds of Steve Lord's hilarious/informative/vicious "Cider Kill-chain" talk.[0] Since attacks only improve over time, the code golf to make the devices more effective could prove quite entertaining to watch - from a safe distance. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIRlFSIngfE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIRlFSIngfE
- Shared404 6y ago
- ponker 6y agoI’d bet 1:2 odds that this activist wasn’t the target and they’re just trying to get some low effort dope busts.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoI think you're right. It's a little confusing to me, but this article makes it sound like the camera was set up on a pole in front of a relative's house, but pointing at a different "family property" where Antonio was living. There's some older articles talking about how he lives at his grandmother's house, and his uncle lives across the street. Both houses were raided by cops in 2018 due to alleged cocaine dealing and they made 2 arrests (One cousin had a small amount of weed, and another cousin had an outstanding warrant for assault) When that happened he talked about how he felt like his family was being targeted due to his activism. Perhaps, but IMO the generic "the war on drugs" is a more likely cause
- soulofmischief 6y agoGiven the circumstance, it's more likely that the War on Drugs is a cover for this kind of behavior, thus the bogus cocaine dealing charges. If MPD comes out and hides behind the drugs defense, take it with a painstakingly large grain of salt.
- blinkengus 6y agoI'd bet 1:1 odds that even if it were, ITS STILL ILLEGAL TO POINT A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA AT A HOUSE WITHOUT A WARRANT.
- roamerz 6y agoInteresting that they felt they had the right to tamper with what is obviously private property.
- tlack 6y agoGiven the physical access, could the device be taken over to discover the specific identity of the surveillors? IP addresses, malware implants..
- angry_octet 6y agoYes. And you could feed in whatever surveillance footage you wanted. Some of the boxes have enclosure open switches though.
- justAnotherNET 6y agoWhen I was younger a friends parent worked for an LEA that did this to spy on people suspected of social security disabilities fraud. This was in the mid 1990’s, he showed me pictures of literally this exact thing high voltage sticker and all.
- crististm 6y agoThe high voltage sticker is ubiquitous. It's not representative of anything other than what it stands for: "high voltage". If anything else it might be a decoy to scare away ... maybe nobody that would matter.
- unexaminedlife 6y agoDisclaimer: didn't read the article, am responding in general to the title. Also, I am in no way trying to discount the possibility that activists are being surveilled. What I recently have started to think about is how these sorts of stories COULD be used as a tool to further their cause if the "victim" wanted it to be. What better way to shine a light on a cause than to manufacture a story that shows they have real enemies who are actively trying to disrupt their cause? Again, not saying this case is such, but only here to say the future is going to be hard to get right. Everyone will be an expert (if they want to be) at stirring up dissonance.
- zo1 6y agoI've been seeing something semi-related quite a bit on Reddit. A lot of innocent/innocuous/non-political subs are now quite frankly "obsessed" with equality, rich-people/capital, race (black people in particular) and police violence. I guess you could say it's "hot" right now. E.g. Science sub-reddit having articles that talk about the cognitive science of voting, and studies that imply/prove that Republicans or anti-maskers are stupid (I paraphrase this one, can't recall the details). Or the documentaries sub now being unnaturally filled with documentaries related to the above-mentioned topics. I understand people are trying to solve what they see as problems in society. And I understandably think politics and social-organization is broken at the moment. Especially if ordinary people have to resort to infecting normal spheres of life with politics/activism because they are essentially powerless, which I will agree with them on. Democracy is broken.
- Animats 6y agoThey just need better PR for Big Brother. One of China's state-owned surveillance companies is way ahead at this. "Hikvision - welcoming you to a safer world". Ad for face recognition: https://youtu.be/3-wFa8eWZ7E https://youtu.be/3-wFa8eWZ7E Tired of looking at surveillance video? This tool speeds up the job: https://youtu.be/KrzTAlV70bQ https://youtu.be/KrzTAlV70bQ Overproduced ad for the whole product line. Very funny: https://youtu.be/otAuH6FDhgw https://youtu.be/otAuH6FDhgw
- sebmellen 6y agoThe ads are terrifying, mainly because it shows the company has enough money to waste this much on ad production. It also makes me wonder how much the problem in China is top-down vs "middle-out". It seems that the CCP wages a brilliant kind of information warfare: The ads build up an image around the creation of this technology as an equalizer and solution to middle and lower-class problems. The ad for face recognition, for example, is factored around making the lives of factory and service workers easier. By doing this, they gain buy-in from all social classes. The little guy lives a better life, the middle class lives in a secure and fair society, and the governing class can ensure everything runs smoothly. I've always thought of China's government as a rather Orwellian top-down state of control. I've realized lately that their propaganda is sophisticated enough to make their populous believe it without coercion. What westerners might see as Orwellian is to them an innovation which helps the working class.
- throwaway3699 6y agoProducing ads like these is never a waste if they can change the public's perception. Creepy.
- LifeLiverTransp 6y agoThe whole system is carefully trimmed towards producing citizens who distrust and non-interact with each other - except for monetary interaction. Divide and conquer driven to its darkest depths.
- cinntaile 6y ago
- rootsudo 6y agoTo be fair, I'm disappointed at the lack of sophistication of this surveillance device. Everything is off the shelf and is very conginizent of burn notice. https://burnnotice.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_216:_Lesser_Evil https://burnnotice.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_216:_Lesser_Evil Litereally, to the "T" with the high voltage sticker.
- thinkloop 6y agoWhat was suspicious about the box that made them look?