And in December, Arshad attended the funeral for a colleague shot in Langley Park, one of four cabbies slain in Prince George's over the past year. I trust in God to watch over me. Driving a taxi ranks among America's most dangerous jobs, with one federal study finding that cabbies were four times more likely than police officers to be slain. Now a Prince George's lawmaker is proposing that the county equip each of its 775 licensed taxis with digital security cameras, technology touted as a potent crime deterrent everywhere from the District to Houston to New York City. But civil liberties advocates worry that the cameras violate the right to privacy.
Advocates counter that the cameras can prevent robberies and save lives.
Prince George's cabbies travel where mass transit's tentacles don't reach, venturing into dangerous neighborhoods to drive people who don't have licenses or cannot afford cars. We have an obligation to protect these drivers. While county police don't keep crime statistics for taxis, it's hard to find a Prince George's cabbie who doesn't claim to have felt the blade of a knife on his neck or the metal of a gun barrel behind the ear. Day or night, they say, the risks are the same. He was parked at the Addison Road Metro, arm slung over the seat, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.