COMMENTARY | On September 11, 1773, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "There never was a good war or bad peace."
More than 200 years later, on September 11, 2001, the United States lost its sense of peace as an undetermined enemy declared "unofficial war" on the U.S. when terrorists overtook passenger planes, crashing them into the New York World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.
In the days that followed, the streets around San Jose were eerily vacant. I remember people seemed afraid to go out in public for weeks after. The events that took place thousands of miles away from the Bay Area reached all corners of our society, wreaking havoc on our lives - precisely the goal of terrorism.
"Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim," according to Terrorism Research.
The devastation that rocked New York exploded nationwide, causing a lingering plague 10 years later: fear. Increasing surveillance seems to be the solution for maintaining peace and easing our fear. The terrorist attack ushered in a new age keenly focused on fighting terrorism and crime. The Bay Area's means of surveillance continues to grow at a pace that would cause George Orwell to turn in his grave.
What is Bay Area security and surveillance like in the wake of 9/11?
- In August 2011, Gilroy installed its first downtown security camera, with more on the way.
- As of 2010, Bay Area residents are using social media to watch for and report criminal activity in San Jose.
- Fremont's Logitech reports installing a private Alert Digital Video Security Camera in a neighborhood or home allows you to "register the camera with the new 'Neighborhood Central' crime prevention service."
- The Proposition 1B bond affords San Jose more real-time cameras planned for local highways.
- According to SF Gate, San Francisco will install state-of-the-art real-time video surveillance cameras on 358 Muni buses.
- In July 2011, San Jose police added two federal immigration officers to their staff.
- San Jose Police considered participation in a new program known as Suspicious Activity Reporting - a nationwide monitoring system.
- Bay Area parents want their children to have cell phones. In an Aricent survey, "an overwhelming majority of parents considering mobile phones as a child's holiday gift are focused on safety - not entertainment."
As more people accept surveillance as the solution for peace and security, the trend is likely to increase. It does leave me wondering where the ultimate end will be.
Perhaps Danny Chavez of Gilroy said it best when he commented on the newly installed camera in Gilroy. "That's Big Brother, he's my friend ... It's watching me, and I'm watching it," Chavez was quoted as saying in the Gilroy Dispatch.
Maintaining security by monitoring people now seems to be synonymous with peace. After September 11, 2001, Benjamin Franklin might change his mind if he were alive today, as we now seem to live in a state of "bad peace."
As a freelance writer, photographer, and longtime resident, Laura Wrede understands that it isn't just national news that residents in the Silicon Valley want to read. They want to know how these stories affect them. They also want to know what is happening in their own neighborhoods. Wrede offers a local news perspective for her neighbors throughout Santa Clara County.
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