He needs an attorney , preferably someone skilled in constitutional and criminal law and willing to take the case pro bono. It's a tall order for free work. Courts have historically held that the eyes of a camera are no different from the eyes of a police officer walking a beat. But advances in technology have given cameras power that far exceeds the capabilities of the street cop. Linked to vast databases, cameras can instantly compare an individual's face to those of fugitives.
Officers can zoom in from hundreds of yards, or use infrared beams to peer through walls.
The last person to take that tack received a petty summons for littering. So it's back to the drawing board. Whether Bill Brown finds the right lawyer or not, he thinks the NYPD should, at the very least, place warning signs on the cameras as a deterrent to crime. Even the cop sitting watching Washington Square agrees on that point. But I tell you what, with all the high technology going on, these cameras aren't going anywhere.