Topic overview
In brief
- John Oliver highlighted the Rialto Police Department's access to over 150 private business cameras through Fusus.
- His team uncovered over 100 instances of police accessing these cameras, including fast food restaurants and hotels.
- The findings raise significant concerns about privacy and the extent of police surveillance in public spaces.
Summary
In a recent episode of 'Last Week Tonight,' John Oliver focused on the use of surveillance technology by the Rialto Police Department in California. The police department has the capability to tap into over 150 livestreams from private businesses through a system provided by Fusus, which allows for quick access to privately owned cameras and recorded footage. This practice has raised concerns about privacy and the extent of police surveillance in public spaces. Oliver's team filed public records requests to uncover the frequency and nature of police access to these cameras, resulting in a massive 30,413-page document detailing numerous instances of surveillance.
The investigation revealed that police accessed cameras at various locations, including fast food restaurants and hotels, with over 100 documented occasions of monitoring. Notably, there were instances where police checked on the grill at a Wienerschnitzel and spent hundreds of hours observing a Days Inn, including a camera facing the hotel pool. These findings prompted Oliver to question the justification provided by the police department, which claimed that some accesses were related to monitoring broader areas or were incidental.