I was excited to see the Tribune Editorial Board question the proliferation of Flock’s automated license plate readers (“More cops are accused of misusing Flock cameras. This is becoming too much like Big Brother,” Sept. 2). The speed at which law enforcement agencies have obtained surveillance tools powered by artificial intelligence should give everyone pause. These technologies remain largely unregulated and raise serious and unique privacy and civil rights concerns.
In most states, there is no regulation over how long tech companies can retain the data they collect, how securely that data is stored and or how it may be used. Information collected by Flock cameras has been accessed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Flock has lied to government bodies about how its technology works and what it does with the data it collects. Law enforcement officials, including here in the Chicago area, have been caught inappropriately using Flock cameras to surveil community members for personal purposes.
This is all especially concerning because the Cook County Board recently approved a $1 million expansion of the sheriff’s network of cameras, even though the sheriff’s office admitted to using the technology for years without an active contract. Now the sheriff is attempting to procure another controversial surveillance tool: BriefCam.
BriefCam is an AI video surveillance system that uses facial recognition to identify people, document their activity and flag activity. In Europe, a French court banned the technology due to privacy concerns and false positives, which led to civil rights abuses. This is especially concerning as this new technology would be tested on an incredibly vulnerable group: people jailed awaiting trial, the majority of whom are Black. Using BriefCam in the jail would find Cook County taking part in this country’s long history of testing new scientific developments on marginalized groups.
The sheriff says he wants to use the technology to address the large number of deaths that have occurred in the jail over the last six years. No one should lose their life awaiting trial in the county’s custody. But surveillance software is no substitute for a comprehensive review of jail conditions, staffing, violence prevention, harm reduction and emergency response procedures.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners made a serious mistake by approving an expansion of Flock. By rejecting BriefCam, commissioners would avoid compounding that mistake and hit the pause button on Cook County’s rapid — and insufficiently scrutinized — expansion of AI surveillance technology.
— Shaddi Zeid, political director, The People’s Lobby
People with disabilities at risk
Access Living remains steadfast in our opposition to physician-assisted suicide, known as the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, and deeply concerned about the risks this law poses to people with disabilities.
Illinois is implementing assisted suicide while the healthcare safety net for people with disabilities faces extraordinary threats. Federal Medicaid cuts threaten billions of dollars in healthcare funding for Illinois and could cause hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans to lose coverage. People with disabilities continue to struggle to obtain sufficient home and community-based services, direct support professionals and other supports necessary to live independently in our communities.
Can we truly call assisted suicide a choice when some people with disabilities cannot get the services and support they need to choose to live? Access Living believes Illinois has failed to answer that question.
Since Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation, disability rights advocates have continued working to reduce its potential for harm. We introduced additional safeguards legislation, including a mandatory mental health evaluation for every person seeking assisted suicide, stronger protections against coercion and undue influence, and greater oversight and reporting. The General Assembly and governor’s office chose not to move forward with these protections.
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These safeguards are meant to serve as mechanisms to reduce harm to people with disabilities. People with disabilities know what happens when healthcare systems place a dollar value on our lives, when insurance companies deny treatment, when Medicaid does not authorize enough personal assistance hours, when people languish on waiting lists for community services, and when healthcare professionals underestimate the quality of life of people with significant disabilities.
Illinois is creating a system in which the state will facilitate access to medication to end a terminally ill person’s life while it cannot guarantee that every person with a disability will have access to the healthcare, services, mental health treatment, palliative care, housing and personal assistance necessary to live.
That is not meaningful choice. People with disabilities deserve dignity at the end of life; however, dignity requires more than the option to die. It requires meaningful access to the services, support, healthcare and community integration necessary to live.
At a moment in time when those very supports are under unprecedented threat, Illinois should be strengthening the systems that give people with disabilities genuine choices about how they live.
— Sebastian Nalls, policy analyst for healthcare, Access Living, Chicago
Mendoza’s op-ed cogent
I found the column written by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza about reforms to the disposition of human remains to be one of the clearest, most concise and cogent I have read (“Illinoisans who mishandle human remains must face more consequences,” Sept. 8). No platitudes but real solutions to achieve good governance.
If this is an example of her problem-solving skills, she has my vote as candidate for Chicago mayor.
— Cecelia Tomaszkiewicz, Chicago
How to curb violence
Two interconnected situations revolve around gun violence in Illinois.
It was reported that in Chicago, mostly on the South and West sides, there were nine killed and 30 wounded over the Labor Day weekend. Despite the fact that violence is down, this number is egregious. It is time to address the who, what and why regarding these violent acts, not just the when and where.
Is it grudges between people, gang initiations, domestic violence, retaliation for some perceived slight or proliferation of social media taunts? Until the behaviors related to individuals turning to violent acts are remedied, the violence will continue.
It appears that Illinois state lawmakers, in wanting to pass a bill labeled Responsibility in Firearm Legislation Act, believe gunmakers should pay if a weapon they manufactured is recovered in a shooting. This is nothing short of extortion. A corollary is holding automakers accountable when an auto accident occurs. This legislation is not the answer.
It is time to attack the root of gun violence, not continue to slap bandages on a problem that is causing harm to so many.
Remember: Guns don’t kill; people do.
— Cathleen Bylina, Chicago
Dear Sox: Stay in Bridgeport
I am writing in the wake of the news concerning a proposal for a White Sox stadium in the South Loop. While this site appears to be a wonderful shiny new object, it is not the best idea for the team or its fans. Let us do a quick comparison.
The proposed site has several serious drawbacks. They include: No parking is shown. Where do you plan to include it? No highway access. Is a new highway spur being built? As a proposed stadium site, it makes a fine location for a medical center.
Staying in Bridgeport has several obvious advantages. They include: acres of parking, with room for a parking structure as well. Direct highway access via 31st and 35th streets and Pershing Road. Public transportation access via the CTA “L” and the Metra Rock Island line.
Here is how you make Bridgeport work for a new Sox Park. Build on the footprint of Old Comiskey Park. Ask the city of Chicago to vacate 34th Street for extra space. Just west of the site, you could build a multiuse structure. This building could house bars, restaurants and a team store on the ground level, with a multilevel parking structure above.
The new Sox Park could include a retractable roof. Build a Ballpark Village on the site of the current ballpark. It could include bars, restaurants and apartments and/or condos. This would create a new neighborhood, breathing life into the area year-round.
The White Sox should consider this proposal. Don’t turn your back on Bridgeport, which has supported the team for over 100 years. Time to return the favor.
Tribune columnist Paul Sullivan has referred to staying in Bridgeport as a “pipe dream.” While I respect and admire Sullivan’s work, I am not ready to put down the pipe just yet.
— Albert Slater, Chicago
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].
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