Andrew Napolitano Denounces Police Surveillance as Constitutional Assault

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge, argues that the proliferation of public surveillance cameras across approximately 7,000 American police departments constitutes an assault on individual privacy. He asserts that the systematic recording and cataloging of citizens who have committed no crime violates the Fourth Amendment and the fundamental right to be left alone.

Napolitano contends that public safety goals do not justify a permanent infrastructure of suspicionless surveillance. He demands that government surveillance occur only with search warrants and calls for elected legislators to enact specific laws limiting these technologies. He argues that police departments should not be permitted to implement surveillance systems through procurement processes without formal legislative approval and public debate.