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Indybay Feature

SURVEILLANCE CAMERA SABOTAGE CLAIM

by anonymous
In late July and late October, 2009, attacks against intersection and freeway surveillance cameras took place in Santa Cruz County. Thirty cameras had their cables cut, rendering them inoperable. This was done as an act of resistance against increasingly pervasive surveillance technologies.
Through surveillance cameras installed everywhere, they can know our movements and activities. Through ATM and credit card databases, they can know what we purchase and where. Through telecommunication systems, they can monitor to whom we speak and the content of our conversation. Through the internet, they can trace our social networks and know what projects we work on. Modern technologies have perfected social control to a point never before imaginable, allowing the transformation of the entire urban space into an open-air prison.

In late July and late October, 2009, attacks against intersection and freeway surveillance cameras took place in Santa Cruz County. Thirty cameras had their cables cut, rendering them inoperable. This was done as an act of resistance against increasingly pervasive surveillance technologies.

We assume that a police state requires a massive presence of troops, tanks on street corners, and helicopters in the sky. The modern reality is much different. Progress has allowed those in power to replace menacing weapons with the omnipresence of their technological instruments. The most efficient police state is one that has no need to put police on display. The fact of being watched by an inanimate object rather than an armed person does nothing to change our suffocating condition. Even the psychological effects aside, there is always an agent behind a surveillance camera.

Cops and bureaucrats are likely to claim that the cameras are not used for surveillance. Though one cannot take anything they say at face value, this claim partly beside the point. Even unwatched surveillance cameras perform a repressive function. First, their presence accustoms us to being watched, making their proliferation a less frightening possibility. Second, as we become accustomed, the existing cameras prepare the way for more insidious detection and surveillance technology. Lastly, the feeling of being watched has strong psychological effects, not least among them is the normalization of behavior. This normalization of behavior, a “self-policing” of sorts, does not happen haphazardly—in fact, it happens neatly in line with business and government interests.

After Halloween this year, Police Chief Howard Skerry stated that the police helicopter had a certain “psychological effect”. The police are clear about the fact that they wish our communities to live in fear. Recently, cops and bureaucrats have advocated installing additional surveillance cameras in downtown Santa Cruz. We will continue to resist this totalitarian re-engineering of our world.

Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

Keep Santa Cruz Weird.




HOW TO DISABLE INTERSECTION CAMERAS

You locate a camera at an intersection, open up the base plate for the pole that it is mounted on, pull out the camera's cables and cut them.

PLANNING AND EXECUTING AN ANTI-SURVEILLANCE ACTION

1) Scout out the locations of cameras in your town or city region and make a map. Once the map is made, examine camera locations to determine intersections and roads to focus on. You may want to free up certain routes of travel from cameras or you may just want to get them out of your neighborhood. You may even try to eliminate them from your city entirely.

2) Take note of which poles have cameras mounted on them (some poles may have multiple cameras mounted). Observe which direction the cameras are pointing and look around the area to see if there is a way to approach the base of the traffic poles while minimizing exposure to the cameras. Near the ground on the traffic pole is a base plate. The base plate is about one foot off of the ground and is either metal or plastic with the approximate dimensions of 4-inches by 5-inches. The base plate is where you can access the cameras cables. The base plate is typically held in place with a single screw that requires a six-sided hex wrench to unscrew (turn counter-clockwise to unscrew). Some base plates occasionally require a flat-head screw driver or other tool to remove. Also, observe what the cables look like that connect to the camera at the top of the pole. You will need to find these cables when you open the base plate. They are typically two separate black round wires or a single black wire (with the two wires integrated). When you open the base plate there will be a jumble of wires of different colors (red, white, green, etc.). The colorful wires are used for traffic lights and are easy to decipher from the black cables. You will cut the black wires.

3) Dress to conceal your features and to prevent the transfer of finger prints. Cold weather is a good time to do this type of action, as you can wear scarves, hats, and gloves without appearing conspicuous. Halloween might be another good time to go out. You want your face to be obscured to hide your identity should you be observed or archived on camera. Wear gloves when handling tools, the base plate or wires.

4) Clean your tools. You will need a wire cutter and a hex wrench set - find one that is not metric and has wrenches of different sizes as there is some variation in screw sizes used on the base plates. Occasionally, the base plate will require a flathead screwdriver. (In this town you will also need tin snips to cut through a metal band that the city has placed over the base plate after the first incident of camera sabotage occurred). Try to find wire cutters that have insulated handles certified for electrical work to reduce the chance of shock. Tools should be cleaned thoroughly of finger prints if you have touched them before, use mineral spirits to wipe them down. You may want to dispose of your wire cutters after use or file them down and store them in a safe place. These tools are fairly affordable or stealable. Try to acquire them long before the action from an area away from where the action will occur. Pay in cash if purchased.

5) Deployment considerations.
Aside from operating solo, there's a couple other formats to consider.

Street Demonstrations - A group of people who have experience with this method of sabotage could take advantage of street demonstrations to cut the wires of intersection cameras and then blend back into the crowd.

Small Group - This can be done with a group of trusted friends who coordinate their activities and select intersections to disable. You will want to consider whether to pair up, work alone, mob an intersection, or try some other combination. Maybe a small group could stand around and conceal the person gaining access to the camera wires.

6) Other Methods - Traffic cameras that are used for ticketing by taking a photo of your license plate when running a red light are often lower to the ground. These can often be spray-painted over as they are reachable from the ground. The cables on these cameras are typically protected by metallic flexible tubing requiring more than wire cutters to cut through.

EXPERIENCES

When the wires are cut there is typically one black wire that sparks and one that doesn't. The one that sparks is the power source. When the wires are cut, the positive and negative wires sometimes touch, this causes arcing of the electricity, which causes the spark. It is hoped that this occasionally causes a power surge and destroys the camera unit. Cutting this wire will sometimes cause pitting on the wire cutters. Of the thirty cameras cut only once was shock felt, only once was a loud "bzzzzt" sound heard along with a big spark, and occasionally all of the intersection lights would go out for some unexplained reason. These cameras don't require much voltage, so accidental shock should not lead to any injury to yourself. Wearing insulated gloves or shoes will add more layers of protection against shock if you want to be extra safe. DON'T DO THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY IN THE RAIN! The wire that doesn't spark is used to transfer the images via fiber optic or coaxial cable. As far as I know the fiber optic cable cannot be spliced back together requiring the entire cable to be completely replaced.

The cameras you destroy will likely be repaired. But a war of attrition may make a camera surveillance network too costly for your city to maintain on its limited budget.
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by sane
Intersection cameras in Santa Cruz don't go to some central monitoring station. They are used to detect cars and bicyclists, to trigger the light change. There is a motion sensing computer behind the cameras in the can in the sidewalk. It's cheaper to install the cameras than to dig up the street and put in sensors. This helps traffic flow better and is more environmental because cars wait less time. Lanes that don't have any cars or bikes aren't given a green light.
by reality calling
To second the first responder, those aren't surveillance cameras. They aren't even used for ticketing. In a time of crisis, you are wasting money that could be spent on things like victims of domestic abuse, homelessness, or other important issues.

I was paranoid about them at first, did a little investigation, and figured out what they really were.
by -
yeah - those are a bad target. The least they could do is try to find a red-light ticketing camera (they cause accidents by causing people to slam on brakes at yellow, and are punitive towards the working class) or perhaps go to San Jose and identify a military or CIA contractor and locate their surveillance comera.
by Another view
The cameras on ATMs are there not to invade the user's privacy, but to ensure their safety. They are a deterrent to strong-arm type robberies at ATMs and also a deterrent to fraudulent use of stolen ATM cards. Sabotage to ATMs is likely to result in fewer ATMs.
by Willis
Those are infrared detectors to see if a car is in the lane so the light will turn green. Destroy those and you screw up how the traffic signal knows if there are cares in the lanes or not, making driving around the city a pain. They are not cameras. There are no red light cameras in Santa Cruz that I know of (there are some in Capitola however). Apparently you vandals didn't do your proper research. Oops...
Nice work, ye anarchists!
Lets take them ALL down!

By the way, look into cameras that read licence plates and RFID (radio frequency identification readers) chips.
The BEST book on RFID is called, SPYCHIPS, by kathryn Albrecht. http://spychips.com

All those cameras on top of Wal-Mart and CV's/Trader Joes monitor and track license plates-
they are instantly put through a police state database looking for stolen vehicles, no insurance, no registration types.
BIG Brother on steroids!

Note that ALL Passports too now have RFID chips in them. And, i believe, All new California drivers licenses and ID's.
Correct me if i'm wrong- if anyone out there has more specific info on this.

Santa Cruz is Weird@
by Messenger
chicago-police.jpg
Spy cameras do exist.

There is a difference between traffic cop cameras and spy cameras at intersections. The traffic cop cameras are box like stationed on the ground between opposite lanes and the spy cameras are mounted up high on intersection light posts sometimes encased in a city police box. The spy cameras look very much like the black "eye in the sky"; security cameras you would see in a casino to watch out for cheaters. I have been noticing for the longest time up until now many of you liberals are just too biased to give any attention to the issues concerning big brother/brave new world, new world order, illuminati, freemason, mind control, human experiments, concentrations camps, RFID tags, psychological warfare, and most of all but not least "false flag operations". Maybe if it were Noam Chomsky talking about the Bilderburgs rather than Alex Jones, you people would listen but that's the divide I guess we have to deal with in this country. I'd say the right and left are only half right because both only believe in half the truth. That's how they keep us in control. "Divided and Conqoured!" I'm neither left nor right because I can see what they are doing to all of us and that the whole world is a stage by their making and were all being preped up for something really big to come. Left and right is nothing but a tactic of divide and conquer so the people won't unite and rise up against their own government rightfully so. The reasons for armed rebellion in the United States are staggering when you look at the evidence of what it has done not only to it's own citizens out in the open but covertly and to the helpless others around the world in war and peace time, what peace has there ever been though really?. As long as there are governments and corporations, there will be no peace imo. You believe that the CIA is capable of toppling democratically elected leaders for oil and the expansion of empire setting up fake revolts and maintaining brutal dictatorships around the world but nevertheless, you doubt with arrogance that the same sinister people with in the CIA and other agencies might be involved in a 911 cover-up or that an even 911 cover-up exists and just pass it off as just some rightwing psycho talk. It's amazing how easy it is for so many people to disregard anything coming from the opposite side even when deep down in side you feel there's more going on to what people in the media are telling you. There's something wrong with the way those buildings came down on 911 but it's not sane to ask questions about it. The street and satellite cameras in the sky are only apart of the big problem we're facing. You’re only grazing the surface of what's happening all around us. Forget about the left and the right for a second and try to step outside the box and look in at the bigger picture. Stop trying to protect your liberal image in front of your liberal friends and vs. because you’re worried about losing your reputation and losing your friends. Think for your self. The cameras are connected to the police state as they police state is connected to the media as the media is connected to our economic system of money and power as our system of money and power are connected to a war with out end. All might be separate issues but they all serve a basic function to make up a system meant to keep you in control. Let's not just identify one thing and attack it. Let's identify the whole picture and then go on a rampage of destruction.

IT'S THE WHOLE SYSTEM STUPID!
by No other words for it.
You "know" what "they" are up to, but the rest of us stupid sheeples can't see it? Yer a solo voice of reason while everyone else, be it left or right of you, is missing the obvious point?

Ahem.... I think it's time for you to adjust either your meds or your tinfoil hat.
by messenger


Now that's a typical comeback coming from just the type of people I was referring to. If you weren't one of these people I'm referring to, you wouldn't be getting so butt-hurt over what I say because it would mean you do not fit into that category of people but apparently you do. The best thing you could have done was not respond to save your self the embarrassment but what's there really to be embarrassed about since nobody here knows who you are anyway except your self? Well, I sure would have trouble sleeping at night and looking at my self straight in the mirror for deliberately starving my self of unpopular knowledge just to fit in with all my liberal buddies and anarchist friends so I wont appear to look like maybe Glen Beck or some other asshat on television. Conservative clicks are asshats too. Like I said both sides have their quirks and I'm not crazy for thinking that, just smart! Excuse me, but I'd rather appear to be the guy wearing the tin-foil-hat who questions everything rather than the guy who would love to question everything but is not allowed to. I'm too free spirited to let my mind be hindered in any such way. And why does it matter to comment back to you anyhow? Because there is a silent war going on; a battle with words and information. There are just too many scenesters who come on this site who do not think independently outside the box and maybe they have a better chance than you. Conservatives are no different. Both sides are ignorant for sticking to their narrow minded philosophies. I pick and chose the good things from all philosophies and leave the bad for the rest of sheep to cling to just so they can be popular among their own crowd. Is it better to be a alone in the dark and open minded then to be a slave to one way of thinking? I don’t forget when it comes to the history of what governments have done and continue to do to maintain complete dominance of others mentally and physically. I’ll wear my tin foil hat with pride, thank you very much :)
by cp
Alex Jones is a paleoconservative who doesn't find fault with any aspect of the economic system, and instead blames bad actors such as these Bilderbergs and of course, the Rothschilds (by the way - Josef Goebbels released a propaganda film called The Rothschilds in 1940 to whip up antijewish hysteria). In Jones opinion, we just need to route out this small number of bad people and 'return to the constitution' and the gold standard - as though everything was really fair back in the early 1800s and there was no economic turmoil and cycle of recessions caused by banks back then (he's wrong, there was). He can't see how the set of incentives set in place by unregulated capitalism will inevitably cause some group of people to end up in control of the financial system, who conspire to keep wages down.
Although I agree with Noam Chomsky’s anti-capitalist sentiment, alternatives to capitalism and his opinions on the CIA’s toppling of democratically elected leaders around the world, I find him to be pretty biased for dismissing a lot of the latest government cover-up's pertaining to the New World Order involving key figures in modern day politics and banking oligarchs which is very suspicious if you ask me. This man is supposed to be proponent of democracy; transparency & freedom and he’s known for dismissing a lot of peoples work in an on going investigation to find out who’s behind what and what is the main agenda? This should be alarming to everybody but some people on the left have decided that it is irrelevant since most people who give it attention happen to be on the rightwing of politics. Can you say…………………………“LAME”?

Alex Jones has the same problem of dismissing evils in our system, particularly capitalism in and of it self but he points out the evil of governments and bankers as if the existence of government wasn’t already bad to begin with. Both sides seem to be morally inconsistent if you want to be honest. If you’re going to identify and attack parts of the system with out seeing the big picture, you will not be successful unless, your motive is making lots of money off of writing lot’s of books then you’ve accomplished what you’ve set out to do but is this really all that it’s about? Making money? Fuck that.
Talk about corruption of the human spirit.

I find both capitalism and cover-up's of government atrocities inherently evil and people from both sides seem to think one or the other is some how tolerable. I find that to be very disturbing. To be frank, it scares the shit out of me how easily 2 characters and others like them can make 2 groups pf people hate each other more and to make matters worse “Alex Jones” pretends to be neutral to the left right paradigm and people believe him even when CLEARLY he's a patriotic, nationalist, preservationist and capitalist who would feel much more inclined to blame Mexican immigrants rather than the policies of free-trade that brought them to immigrate up north in the first place.

Noam Chomsky and Alex Jones consciously or un-coconsciously have been exposing half the wrongs of the system while leaving out the rest of the stuff that is going on and everybody follows. You can see what frustrates me the most here. I believe that the audience of the left and right deserve to see the whole picture. Over time, many if not most people begin to gain full trust in what their hero’s tell them that they have absolute faith in everything they are being told. This is dangerous. Always think critically in order to think clearly.

Looking at it now, it actually widens the gap which is nothing but another injustice and disservice to democracy. The reason for disconnect is no longer a mystery. The disconnectedness between the radical right and radical left makes failure to change society inevitable. We can never rise up as long as things remain exactly where they are, exactly the same. We have to grow up and start thinking for our selves rather than following everything our hero's acknowledge and disregard as being truth; that includes all book writers, and documentary film makers, not just radio talk show hosts and talking heads on the TV screen.

One side (left) only believes just a few people are evil enough to legalize a system of greed while the other side (right) are believing a system of greed is okay but not a world government. Why is this moral inconsistency so accepted and never questioned by anybody?

Alex Jones only blames the Rothschild’s, Bilderburgs, CFR, Federal Reserve while Noam Chomsky only blames NAFTA, WTO, IMF and WORLD BANK. And why are they not all apart of the same system that serves the top 1 percent I might ask?

Always have an open-mind and never trust anybody just for going by a specific label. Understanding that these groups are all apart of the same function is the only key to breaking from a very narrow sided perspective of the world. There might be 2 competing agendas but still ultimately both work to serve the top and that part never changes.

One agenda wants to beef up U.S. dominance in the world making America an even stronger power which are the ones working to empower American Empire. The other group wants to eliminate national sovereignty for the worldwide culmination of states. Think of the American police state worldwide with every government in the world involved. But these things cannot just happen for the people have to be conditioned to accept it via manipulation and fear of enemies foreign and domestic. It big chess game and they are counting on you to look the other way to remain in your conditioned reality.

People such as Henry Kissinger, Gordon Brown, former George, H W Bush, Hilary Clinton, Bill Clinton and secretive groups like the Bilderburg’s are the globalists. Like the neo-cons who lied about weapons of destruction to carry out war on people of the Middle East to enrich American contractors and establish permanent ground bases in the region, they too will manipulate to push for their own agenda.

The existence of rich, poor, middle class, rightwing, leftwing and religion are nothing more but a very successful strategy to keep the masses in check always fighting amongst them selves; too distracted to see what the real puppet masters are up to. We're all victims and the sooner we figure that out the better and I’m all for the collective. Bringing people together to resist and work in teams to survive during and after the conflict has always been my dream but we have to bridge the gap between the left and the right to have the numbers needed for critical mass take over. We will reach a state of critical mass to overpower the state when we decide to open our minds a little and begin exposing the a series of government conspiracies to cover-up mass murder one event after the other and revealing it's relationship to our system of greed and power.

Get everybody on the same page and the whole country will finish where the revolutionaries of the late 60's and 70's have left off. I think that this should be our only goal.

by mark
our mobile devices and providers put us under 24-hour surveillance http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2009/12/8-million-reasons-for-real-surveillance.html
by micah posner
As someone who respects indymedia and radical thought in general, I am disappointed by the article "surveillance camera sabotage claim". In my opinion, it glorifies something that should have a very careful conversation around it. First of all, what are the unintended effects of destroying cameras on people in our community? How would, for example, getting rid of intersection cameras effect bicycle and pedestrian safety, given that cameras provide the only reliable way to have lights change for cyclists, particularly on left turn motions. Along a similar vein, given that the author admits that the city is going to quickly replace the cameras, how does lost city funds fit into the equation? With regard to ATM cameras, how is a camera on an ATM an extension of fascist control towards someone who is already participating (somewhat voluntarily) in a mechanized corporate banking system? How does the destruction of cameras effect other goals of people who value liberty over security, such as Tony Madrigal's current efforts to investigate police spying? Given these and other efforts, is this the right time for this kind of action?
This are real questions. I don't have a firm opinion on when, if ever, the destruction of property is a useful part of making real change. In fact, I can imagine circumstances where I think it would be helpful. I do, however, feel very strongly that the destruction of property should not be taken lightly, which it seems to be in this article.
In a general sense, while I am strongly critical of much about the status qua in this country, I want to remind people that things could be worse. Each act of violence on the part of the "left" creates momentum for an act of violence on the part of the "right" (the police or what have you). This is not to say, therefore, that people like Father Barrigan should not destroy nuclear missiles. It is to say that this kind of action should be taken with the utmost seriousness and careful consideration. While the folks that engaged in this behavior may have undergone this strident and careful process, the article does not reflect that, and so, in my opinion, does a disservice to those of us who believe that liberty is more important than security.

This has already been addressed. The kids got the wrong cameras. Go back and read all the comments

"I don't have a firm opinion on when, if ever, the destruction of property is a useful part of making real change. In fact, I can imagine circumstances where I think it would be helpful. I do, however, feel very strongly that the destruction of property should not be taken lightly, which it seems to be in this article."

As long as you have a government in place growing beyond it's boundaries dumbing people down, committing acts of genocide and working to protect an establishment of financial greed at the expense of the people at the bottom of the pyramid, there will be great violence, murder and sabotage to come rightfully so imo. You know the answer to this. Property destruction is not so bad depending on the cause. If the bank came and took your home I wouldn't blame you for busting their window and getting copy cat's to do the same thing. I would give you mad props.

"In a general sense, while I am strongly critical of much about the status qua in this country, I want to remind people that things could be worse."

Things are getting worse by the day. Look around you. Look on TV. Read the papers. Surf the net and see how much less your family will be spending this Christmas Holiday. You know this stuff.

"Each act of violence on the part of the "left" creates momentum for an "act of violence on the part of the "right""(the police or what have you)."

What's wrong with that? I encourage violence against the state because I believe America is long overdue for a revolution. Most people who do property damage are the hardcore anarchists, anti-capitalists or people with no ideology but have had enough of all the bullshit being perpetuated by the system and will do anything to agitate and get even. Most "radicals" don't consider property damage as being violent, neither do I. The real violence that is being done: war, genocide, clear cutting, pollution, global warming or inflicting physical pain on humans and living things. Property does not feel pain there for it is not considered violent. The only way to disarm all nuclear missiles is to destroy the machine. Lot's of economic sabotage, rioting, and overpowering is what it takes to seriously put a stop to it all at once.

Until then, there's still a chance nations can push the button on each other and there ain't a damn thing we can do about it then because it will be to late. What's is done will be done.

by just stop
stop living in the woods and go back to your mom's house.
she pays for your cell phone anyway and i know you sneak into her house
to crash out in your bed when it's too cold anyway...

okay, okay, i'll stop fucking around but seriously...

"of course, a social relation can't be changed with a bomb,
it takes more than dynamite to get folks to respond.
of course, tomorrow morning if our whole system collapsed,
we'd divide ourselves again on lines of gender, race, and class."

i appreciate the passion, rage and anger but...the majority of the world
doesn't view things like you, and maybe if they did we'd all be ready to just fuck shit
up, occupy, and subvert everything tomorrow so that we could live in an entirely different
world....

but that's not the case, the world isn't black and white. it's going to take an inclusive movement to change things
not a movement where we just fuck everything up and blow it all to hell.
by Fredric L. Rice (frice [at] skeptictank.org)
What's also important to underscore here is that nobody told the fascist State that they could do this to us, nobody gave these scumbag traitors permission to install these cameras against American citizens.

The fascist State has been installing these cameras everywhere across the United States without any votes, hearings, soliciting of comments, not even a "pretty please," these scumbag crooks just commit these crimes against us and expect no resistance, all while they expect the tax paying victims to hand over yet more of our money to buy these things.

In addition to disarming these crimes against us, the cameras might also be spray painted with "super soakers" which might make the things useless when the cables are repaired.

On the other hand, if cities were to hold public votes on whether or not to have these cameras and CNC monitoring systems purchased, installed, and maintained, that's a different matter entirely. If the American citizens were willing to pay for these and willing to have the fascist State monitor every American's every move, that would at least be acceptable -- more so after a Supreme Court ruling on whether these cameras legally constitute treason against us or not.

As it is, the fascist State pulls these crimes against us without a vote, knowing that the people won't stand for it.
Sinclair Lewis didn't say, "When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in an infrared sensor and detecting when it's safe to turn the light green." There are plenty of machines to destroy, but these aren't even the ones the author is looking for, and they're fucking benign too. Can we please focus on shit that matters instead of trying to convince everyone that we're just cuckoo-clock antisocials looking for shit to ruin? In case you haven't noticed, there's a CLASS WAR going on at the University of California, for example.
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