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Editorial: Remove St. Petersburg garbage truck cameras

 
Published March 31, 2017

St. Petersburg sanitation drivers have a valid complaint about working conditions. The cameras constantly recording them as they drive their routes are intrusive and should be removed.

The cameras were installed last year in an effort to improve safety. But drivers in labor negotiations with the city say the devices make them feel under constant surveillance. That's not just a perception. The two-way cameras record both the driver and the view out the windshield, nonstop. The outward-facing camera could potentially protect a driver involved in an accident if it showed, for example, another vehicle at fault. But the one trained on the cab is a distraction, one driver said, that makes her fearful of making a mistake that could cost her the job. And they don't capture everything, including incidents behind the trucks.

That argument — that cameras don't provide a complete picture — is similar to those cited by opponents of police body cameras. St. Petersburg has the garbage truck cameras but not the police body cameras, even though the stakes are often higher in law enforcement and the need for public trust is even greater.

Mayor Rick Kriseman supports the continued use of the garbage truck cameras for protecting both drivers' safety and the public's. Incidents with garbage trucks are too common, and anything that reduces accidents and injuries should be on the table. Data from the initial four-month trial period show a decline in incidents from the previous four months — which could be a result of drivers being more careful knowing they're being watched.

Negotiations between the city and the union are ongoing. One compromise would be to do away with the cameras recording the drivers while keeping the ones that capture incidents in front of the trucks. If the city is worried about sanitation drivers being distracted to the point of posing a danger, then removing a primary distraction only makes sense.