The past several months, more than any time in history, have highlighted the evolving role of surveillance in law enforcement, public safety and security. From the dramatic video of the terrorist attacks in France at Charlie Hebdostreamed to the world as they were occurring, to the crowd-sourced cellphone video and images recording police actions, both good and bad, surveillance has had a significant impact on the way we see the world around us.
The public availability of video and its viral distribution have delivered some horrifying images of acts of terrorism, outraging the world and clearly illustrating the true evil of extremists regardless of their cause. This same media has also become a tool exploited by these same groups to use as a platform to incite, to recruit and to propagate fear and threats in their quest for power.