In the old days confrontations were settled by throwing down gauntlets resulting in a battle to the death, today it's high tech digital spy camera capabilities vs a walk in the park. The winner: 2 Cyclists
.... the arrest came as a result of the observations by two local mountain bikers who regularly use the public trails. Between August 1st and December 29th, 2014, the bikers noticed weekly obstructions on the trail which, at times, became dangerous for them and other bikers. For the month of December 2014, the two bikers took it upon themselves to purchase, install, and monitor security cameras in the hopes of capturing an image of the offender. - RCMP North Vancouver
What if, in all those recordings covering 24/7 for December, the two bikers found 'evidence' of other activities, a hug here, a kiss there between two local politicians, married but not married to each other. What if images were taken of families, children?
How were the cameras installed, in a toolbox with a peephole or in a bird's nest egging them on?
Why didn't the bikers try a less confrontational route by posting signs as a deterrent to stop damage being done to trails? No camera, just signs implying that there were cameras.
Attention
This Area May Be Monitored by Video Surveillance Cameras (CCTV)
The personal information collected by the use of the CCTV at this site is collected under the authority of (an Act) and (by-law). This information is used for the purpose of promoting public safety and reduction of crime at this site.
Any questions about this collection can be directed to the Manager of (Department) at (phone number), (City Hall address) (e-mail).
There is a higher authority when it comes to the public's use of surveillance cameras, the RCMP but they have shown a tendency to turn a blind eye to special interest groups in the name of Safety.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The public should be advised that they will be under surveillance.
The public should be informed with clearly written signs at the
perimeter of surveillance areas, which advise that the area is or may be
under surveillance, and indicate who is responsible for the
surveillance, including who is responsible for compliance with privacy
principles, and who can be contacted to answer questions or provide
information about the system.
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2012 CBC report:
Store video cameras failing to comply with privacy laws
Not a single store in Toronto's Eaton Centre had proper signage about cameras
...... Nathalie Desrosiers, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association:
People have a right to choose if they want to enter a store and then
have their image recorded, she said, but if they don't know they are
being recorded, they can't make that choice.
"It's a question of
not depriving people of the opportunity to make a decision themselves
about what they want to share and what they do not want to share and
that's a fundamental aspect of human dignity."
Desrosiers says this also raises concerns about how the recorded
information is being used, and whether the technology is being mined for
other reasons, such as targeted marketing or law enforcement.
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SurveillanceRights
About SurveillanceRights
SurveillanceRights is a research project that aims to better inform Canadians about video surveillance and their rights in relation to it. We are developing this website and the SurveillanceWatch web and smartphone app for mapping the location of surveillance cameras using crowdsourced contributions from people like you.
About 'Who's watching You?'
What do you think about video surveillance? This project asks how Canadians feel about being filmed when walking down public sidewalks, going into shopping centres or office buildings, or walking past many other publicly accessible areas. You can spot cameras operated by stores, bars, restaurants, property managers, banks, hotels, police services, hospitals, schools, universities, and more. What kind of information would you like to know about the way these places collect, use, or store images of you?
Are your privacy rights respected?
Because video surveillance operators capture personal information, they come under Canadian privacy legislation. For example, video surveillance in commercial operations is governed by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) or provincial equivalent.
You have a right to an informed choice
Canadian Privacy Commissioners have noted that 'most privacy laws require the organization conducting video surveillance to post a clear and understandable notice about the use of cameras on its premises to individuals whose images might be captured by them, before these individuals enter the premises.' This is so we can make an informed choice about whether or not to enter.
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The use of the video cameras by two bikers has created the opportunity for a double edged sword thrust by the hikers in their promotion of Safety in the woods ..... by the 2% cyclists.
Time to turn the heat down.
The District of North Vancouver should Post signs, install cameras if necessary, and not leave it to the vigilantes.
 |
| District North Vancouver Source |
DNV Rules
Multi-Use Trails
Mountain Bikers should give way to hikers
should??? probably explains a lot about the War
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It should be noted that Fromme Mountain Trail Networks is not Whistler
Whistler runs are Cyclists use ONLY!!!!
There is no such thing as Multi use trails
*******
Mountain Biking BC
Code of Conduct
4.Yield Appropriately: Do your utmost to let your
fellow trail users know you're coming — a friendly greeting or bell ring
are good methods. Try to anticipate other trail users as you ride
around corners. Bicyclists should yield to other non-motorized trail
users, unless the trail is clearly signed for bike-only travel.
Bicyclists traveling downhill should yield to ones headed uphill, unless
the trail is clearly signed for one-way or downhill-only traffic. In
general, strive to make each pass a safe and courteous one.
.... Bicyclists should yield to other non-motorized trail users, unless the trail is clearly signed for bike-only travel...... non-motorized meaning .... hikers. If a bicyclist has to dismount from his non-motorized vehicle is he then deemed to be a ..... pedestrian and needs to find a different route home....
Does the RCMP concur with the Code? or is there a double standard
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Man dead after mountain biking accident on Cypress
West Vancouver police say it’s not yet known if he was wearing a helmet when he crashed
Dan Burritt - May 7, 2012
...... McCrae says it’d be slippery with lots of mud right now because of the late snow pack and the wet weather.
He says certainly, wipeouts are common on the North Shore.
“But one of the things people don’t realize about the riding up here is
it’s so technical, you don’t have a lot of speed. And generally, when
you have serious injuries in mountain biking, it’s because of speed,” he
says.
McCrae says while there are a lot of crashes, it’s the kind where you dust yourself off and keep going.
 |
| Challenged?? CBC |
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Stravas guy should like this
.........
Privacy Rights be Damned by Cyclists
Cyclist Hells Angels on proper use of Surveillance Cameras
GAME CAMERAS
Information was gathered by
video and by picture by different parties about the saboteur's actions.
Although her actions were discussed and logged extensively on open
internet forums she either didn't read such forums or didn't care so
indulged in a repetitive pattern of behaviour. Game cameras are used by
hunters to capture images of wildlife. From a trail work perspective Jay Hoots
gives examples of game cams being used as counters, to assess user
trends, for materials and tools security, for animal monitoring and for
weather watching. It turns out that they also have uses by trail users
for catching people in the act of perpetrating crimes. .
This is
a site for internet bike nerds who love to moan about wheel sizes and
enduro lingerie and not about game cams so I won't dwell long on this
topic of game cam geek specs and instead checked with a friend who runs a hunting site and who mentioned the Bushnell cams and the Stealth Cams
as being particularly useful. Neither are particularly cheap but they
are effective. They are weather proof and their batteries last for weeks
as they draw very little current. If you have more questions ask in the
comments and I'll enlist a game cam geek to try to answer.
left: Bushnell 8MP Trophy Cam - approx $ 200 CAD; right Stealth Cam - approx $189
None
of the parties who installed the game cams, obtained the footage and
turned the footage over to the law enforcement authorities were
particularly keen on being publicly named, citing concerns about the
mental stability of the saboteur they were targeting. Understandable.
They did give me some sample footage produced by the game cams and some
recommendations on what to in obtaining the footage and documenting same
in a useable format. Recommendations are as follows:
1. Position the camera high.
You can stand on a bike's top tube or the shoulders of a friend to get
the camera high enough that it's hard to take down or to damage the
camera. The game cam is less likely to be seen if it's higher. It's
pretty stunning how oblivious people are to things not in their direct
line of vision so just move the cam up a bit and it'll be practically
invisible.
2. Buy a lock. Some of
these game cams can be locked. Even if the game cam is whacked with a
stick or object and dislodged/damaged hopefully the case is sturdy
enough to protect the camera and the storage media. Sure locks can be
broken but the lock is just another deterrent for the saboteur.
3. Practise positioning.
You can use sticks or other material to orient the camera the right
way. Most of the cameras take SD cards which can be read in other
cameras or a small tablet on-site. That's the best way to ensure you
have a good position before deploying the camera.
4. Get two cameras.
If you're particularly motivated it's a nice idea to have one cam
pointing at the other cam. Or you can put one cam in an obvious spot and
the other cam more well hidden. Of course that means doubling up on a
pretty substantial cost but do you want to catch this person or do you
want to just talk about it?
5. Keep it quiet.
The parties who got the game cams didn't talk about it on internet
bulletin boards. They didn't posture about what they would do. They
bought the cams and put them up. They got the footage and they delivered
it to law enforcement in a coordinated tidy package. If you spray about
where and what you're going to do to police your trails then hey maybe
you get more LIKES or PROPS but, at the same time, all you do is alert
the perpetrator thus defeating the purpose. Fortunately, in this
situation, the trail saboteur in question probably doesn't read internet
bulletin boards.
6. Document everything. Log the dates and times when the trail sabotage is occurring. Take pictures of the sabotage (the pics and video will be date and time stamped but you have to set that correctly in the cams).
Tag the most relevant footage. Keep a solid electronic or paper trail
of what you're doing so when you take the next step of involving law
enforcement you will be more likely to be taken seriously.
7. Include some video if possible. Sometimes in a photo it's hard to know if the debris or obstacle is being removed or placed. The video takes away all doubt.
Leave No Trace No Signs
