Federal Way’s cameras: Where’s our privacy? | Letter to the editor, June 1

I knew it. I knew it. I knew it when the city fathers of Federal Way put out two traffic cameras and in the first three months took in a ton of money in traffic fines. I knew the citizens of Federal Way were in for trouble.

This week, all the local news outlets carried the story of Federal Way and its surveillance cameras. I heard one report that said there were 27 cameras installed around the core area of the city.

At the time of the first two cameras, I knew we would soon have many more cameras, but I never dreamed that it would take only a few short months before our every move would be watched by volunteers in the police station.

I am bald. I have had skin cancer on my head twice. Doctors have told me to always wear a cap.

I am legally blind. I always wear dark glasses to protect the small amount of vision I still have.

Today, I walked into my bank. I was wearing my usual cap and dark glasses. The teller told me that from now on, I was to take off my cap and dark glasses every time I entered the bank. It seems that is the favorite garb of bank robbers.

So now I look like a bank robber. I wonder how carefully those 27 cameras are recording my every move. I wonder. Are there cameras in the public bathrooms? I wonder. Will I soon have to go through a metal detector and take off my shoes when I go to my bank?

What is this world coming to? Do we no longer have any privacy?

Leo J. Thoennes, Federal Way