From the Publisher:
Big brother is watching...
A comedian once said, “Just because you’re not paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” With the equipment that is out there, a little paranoia might be in order.
In today’s ethical climate, surveillance equipment is becoming a necessary part of almost every business. Alarm systems are good for preventing external threats, but today a number of businesses are being hit by internal thieves. To prevent and to catch illegal behavior, business owners are now putting both overt and covert systems in place. Many businesses are installing cameras such as the ceiling domes in department stores or as the heavy duty all-weather ones mounted on exterior walls in order for general prevention and for catching stupid thieves. The recent bank robbers in the small town of Merigold were filmed from a number of different angles by overt ‘bullet’ cameras hanging from the ceiling. That trial ought to go quickly.
The covert cameras and audio equipment that businesses are using today are where the real advances are taking place in the workplace. Miniaturization is wonderful thing. Some companies are using pinhole cameras less than an inch across and weighing less than two ounces placing these almost anywhere.
These cameras can be wireless and can have a line of sight range of over 700 feet. Other tiny cameras can be worn – a pen or a shirt button might contain one – and, battery powered, can transmit a signal to a receiver that is usually not too far away. Normal-seeming everyday items such as alarm clocks or TV’s might hold a camera. One surveillance firm markets a fat wax candle that contains one tee-nincy camera.
The audio equipment is something else again. Shotgun microphones can capture conversations over 100 yards away. Others have a range of over 300 yards! Then there are pen microphones and small digital phone recorders that don’t even have to plug into the phone. Extremely sensitive contact microphones can be stuck to a wall or door to hear what’s going on in another room, even through concrete walls. It is almost unending and sad to say, but many businesses are finding that using these tactics can mean the difference between being profitable or not. One convenience store owner recently told me that he adds 15 percent to his overhead to adjust for theft.
Surveillance equipment is being employed by a steadily growing number of businesses, thanks to a steadily declining ethical climate. Maybe I’m just being cynical, but it hasn’t always been this way. Concepts like honor and loyalty seem to be becoming anachronisms. I know quite a few holdouts to be sure, men and women with whom a handshake is just as good as a notarized contract, but with partial thanks to our increasingly litigious society, that breed of cat appears to be dying out.
Oh, back to the paranoia part: If you can utilize some of these things, how do you know they aren’t being used on you? Better watch what you say, and remember, someone could be watching you right now…. DBJ
Scott Coopwood
Publisher
