Kitchener: City Hall

If you are reading this post as directed from a QR Code (as part of the Kitchener-oriented version of Waterloo Watchmen, presented at the Artery Gallery as part of the opening of CrimeLab), then you should turn around now. This will allow you to see Kitchener's City Hall. This is one of the most intensive sites of surveillance in the downtown Kitchener area.

On the southern side of City Hall you will notice a public space in front of the Williams. While this space is open to the public it comes with the condition of surveillance. On either side of the space, you will notice two hanging dark semi-spheres. These each, if our assumptions are correct, contain CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras.

The are a number of reasons why these cameras are hidden behind a dark tinted half-sphere. It provides protection to the camera from interference by the public it watches. It also makes the cameras seem less present, less intrusive. In fact though, you could argue that this makes them all the more intrusive, depending on your opinion. It also allows the camera's current position to be hidden. Within the casing, the camera can rotate, thus achieving wider surveillance from its fixed position. In hiding where the camera is pointing, it is ensured that you the public can not know which direction it is facing, and so we must assume that it is always facing us. This is one of the most powerful techniques of surveillance - internalized surveillance. When we know that we might be watched, we must act as if we are always watched.

The entrance of City Hall itself maintains surveillance through use of architecture and policing, instead of using technology. By creating it with a glass front, with controlled glass entrances, complete visibility of anyone entering is provided.



Once you enter, you are greeted by the presence of a desk run by regional police. These police can thus monitor anyone coming into the public space. It is also highly likely that they have access to CCTV screens that allow them to remotely watch the exterior and any (yet to be identified) interior cameras.





On the northern side of City Hall there is another public space. Again, this is space is contained by a semi-hidden CCTV camera on each side. There is an important reason that seating is only provided between these two cameras - it allows that public space to both invite and ensure security. Yet we can not be sure whether these cameras are being monitored live, or if they are only in place to record crime after the fact. Many surveillance systems are never monitored, only used to recall information if it is needed. But what constitutes need? While we know cameras do serve as a deterrent to crime, crime still happens within their gaze on a regular basis. Why as a society are we more interested in punishing then preventing?









If you find any more surveillance at City Hall, or in the K-W area in general, please use your cellphone camera to snap a picture, and send it to us at: invisibilityisatrap@gmail.com