ACLU Opposes Graffiti Cameras

PROVIDENE -- A proposal to place motion-sensitive cameras around Providence to stop vandals is drawing the opposition of civil liberties advocates.

City Councilman Joseph DeLuca wants to put 15 cameras in the city and rotate them to different spots. The camera can play a recorded message warning people to stay away from the area, and take a photo when someone crosses its path.

The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the cameras are an invasion of privacy.

Steve Brown of the ACLU said some of the places where the cameras would be placed are public areas -- and that could mean that people who are doing nothing wrong could be photographed.