Vancouver Police Face Privacy Lawsuit Over Mass Surveillance

The Vancouver police have been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the use of surveillance units violates residents’ privacy rights.

Lead plaintiff, Keigh Papenbrock-Ryan, a resident of Vancouver’s Chinatown district, claims that she is forced to avoid public areas as surveillance units pop up in the neighborhood. According to the complaint, the units are portable trailers that contain a collapsible nearly 10-metre tower with four cameras mounted on the top. They have allegedly been in use for six years by the department.

Further, the surveillance privacy class action lawsuit contends that the surveillance units contain identifying technology that can read license plates and even recognize faces. Also, they allegedly use infrared technology that allows them to “see” through barriers, in buildings, and vehicles. Combined with data mining and analysis tools, the plaintiff claims that she and other residents face encroachment on their privacy.

The plaintiff says that despite not having committed any crimes, she feels like she is being watched by Vancouver police at all times.

“It just seems odd that my movements would be filmed and surveilled,” Keigh told CBC News reporters. “I should be able to walk down the street without being watched.”

The proposed surveillance privacy class action lawsuit takes issue with the fact that seemingly anyone can be watched by Vancouver police, despite no evidence that a crime was or is committed.

“We need to make sure that there are laws in place that protect us from things like this happening, where we can just be randomly surveilled,” the lead plaintiff said to CBC News.

According to the surveillance privacy class action lawsuit, the use of the surveillance units by Vancouver police violates privacy provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, along with British Columbia’s own Privacy Act.

Representatives of Vancouver police have not addressed the lawsuit, according to CBC News, but have stated that the surveillance units are meant as a deterrent to crime. They say that the units do not use the infrared technology, as alleged in the complaint, nor do they retain any footage.

However, the surveillance privacy class action lawsuit contends that the surveillance units fail to deter or decrease crime in the areas where they are placed. The complaint points out that there is no evidence that the units have helped in any investigation or solved a crime.

Additional Surveillance Scrutinized at a Time of Unrest Over Police Practices

The surveillance privacy class action lawsuit filed against the Vancouver police comes at a time of increasing tensions between the public and policing agencies worldwide. Simmering tensions were reignited after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. Video reportedly showed the Black man dying after a White police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Protests started in the United States and quickly spread to major cities worldwide, all expressing concern over police brutality. Often these protests, many of them reportedly peaceful, were met with police retaliation in the form of tear gas, the use of other chemical weapons, and assault.

“I view this trailer and certain other things that the police use like armoured cars and that kind of thing — the militarization of police — to be a very punitive way of looking at how to make things better in society,” the plaintiff told CBC News.

In fact, according to CBC News, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart has stated the province “must act” if the city is to “make major structural changes to policing.” Mayor Steward has reportedly called for a major review of policing in the entire province of British Columbia.

“I believe [the province] will take up this call to ensure this review includes an investigation of systemic racism and disproportional violence experienced by Black and Indigenous community members,” stated Mayor Stewart in a recent speech.

The Public Safety Minister has echoed the sentiment, stating the “[e]veryone deserves to be treated fairly by the police…that hasn’t always been the case.”

However, the Vancouver Police Board reportedly rejected a proposal to cut their budget by one per cent just this year in the wake of the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Other representatives have reportedly pointed out that the City of Vancouver cannot unilaterally modify the Vancouver police budget to reallocate funds to social services under the law, as called to do so by many protesters.

The proposed privacy class action lawsuit over surveillance units does not specify the damages demanded, nor has it been certified.

Are you a resident of Vancouver? Have you seen Vancouver police surveillance units in your neighborhood? Are you concerned about your privacy rights? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!

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