Smile: that candid camera is filmming you

           Smile: that candid camera is filmming you

Catching two elderly men tussling in an argument at an off-leash dog park may not be what the Port of Coupeville had in mind when surveillance spy cameras were installed at Greenbank Farm.

But the mini spy cameras, which also went up at Coupeville Wharf, are helping police catch vandals and hopefully helping to deter thieves – even if the need to protect taxpayers’ investment in the community results in a loss of a sense of privacy.

It may be disturbing, and for some even disheartening, but if you think someone is watching you, in this day and age – and right here on Whidbey Island – it might just be true.

Islanders are used to the ubiquitous ferry cams. In fact, most of us welcome them and turn to the Washington State Ferries website to peek at loading backups and count the cars in line.

With the placement of traffic spy pen cameras by Whidbey Telecom along Hwy. 525 in Clinton and by the state Department of Transportation at all of the ferry terminals, mountain passes and scattered along roadways throughout the state, it’s possible that a driver could be viewed at various spots along a 300-mile, cross-state route from downtown Clinton to Spokane.

It might be easy to take monitoring of the roadways for granted, but what about when you’re trying to get away from it all, like at parks and beaches? You can bet that if you find cameras there, it’s because someone else’s bad behavior got there first.

Washington State Parks spokesperson Linda Burnett said vandalism at South Whidbey State Park had become such a vexing and expensive problem that cameras were permanently installed.

The cameras, which went up about four years ago, monitor traffic to and from the restrooms, which had been besieged by graffiti and thousands of dollars in damage to toilets and quarter machines. A camera was even mounted to point at a tree whose bark had repeatedly been burned by vandals.

The cameras cost $1,000 each, but Burnett said they’ve already more than paid for themselves in preventing more damage to the restrooms.

So far, South Whidbey is the only state park on Whidbey Island where damage had become so pervasive that surveillance was required. Accessibility may be the reason it’s become an easy target. It’s located on well-traveled Smugglers Cove Road and the restrooms are near the park entrance.

Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said there were once cameras at some of the town’s parks, but that program has been discontinued.

Coupeville Marshal David Penrod explained it was because the amount of crime didn’t warrant the staff time and effort involved in implementing the cameras.

But the standard is different for law enforcement, Wallace said. All Coupeville and Oak Harbor patrol cars have cameras that capture a view of an officer as he or she approaches a vehicle that has been stopped.

Law-enforcement personnel also wear remote microphones. They’re only required to advise anyone they stop that they are being recorded.

Davis said he is pretty happy with the results of his surveillance equipment.

“It’s served me well,” he said, adding that he figures that people can assume they’re on “candid camera” just about anywhere there is something of value that needs to be protected from theft.

“I would imagine most retail businesses must have surveillance,” he said.

While that may be an overestimation on Davis’s part, at least here on Whidbey, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility in the near future as wireless spy cameras become cheaper and easier to use.

Just try to remember you might not be as alone as you thought – and remember to smile.