Many law-abiding residents and businesses will no doubt welcome approval for an 80-camera video surveillance system (see Friday/Saturday edition) on the French Side. Concerns about rising delinquency have led to calls for more protection.
Such systems are used to record crimes but also track perpetrators. They can thus serve as an effective deterrent too.
St. Maarten invested in cameras of its own, but lack of related regulations has limited their full use. For example, the Justice Ministry wants to establish a legal foundation for automated traffic enforcement, including smart cameras and citations issued based on vehicle licence plate numbers.
The local Police Force KPSM currently has to physically stop motorists in order to enforce certain violations, placing additional demands on limited resources. The proposed law change would allow exploring the use of automated enforcement and measures to improve collection of outstanding traffic fines, potentially including links to vehicle registration renewal.
Mind you, not everybody likes the idea of video surveillance, even calling it spying on people in public places including while inside their cars on the road. They claim this constitutes an invasion of privacy by authorities.
To some extent, perhaps, but it’s about enhancing security. Certainly for a destination with a tourism economy, that remains a major priority.
Sacrificing a bit of freedom to make the island safer seems warranted under the circumstances. Besides, if you do nothing wrong there is no need to worry.
