Facebook becomes the first private company to hire a full-time police officer to spy on public

MassPrivateI

Facebook has offered to pay $200,000 a year for a full-time Menlo Park police officer who would work out of the city’s planned substation in Belle Haven, a stone’s throw from its headquarters.

The company has pledged to fund the position for three years, and possibly two more, according to an agreement that goes to the Menlo Park City Council for approval.

THAT’S CLOSE TO A MILLION DOLLARS THE POLICE OFFICER WOULD EARN: $600,000 FOR 3 YEARS & $800,000 FOR 5 YEARS!  

Facebook will become what experts say is the first private company in the country to bankroll a full-time beat cop, establishing what could become a blueprint for many more similar partnerships.

Private companies like colleges were some of the first to have police working for them. They used to have security guards but now they’ve become private guns for hire and a private companies’ police force.

“It’s safe to say this is unprecedented,” said Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation, the nation’s oldest police research nonprofit in Washington, D.C. “But this may be the model of the future.”

Model of the future? Who wants a future with private police in every company?

And while several experts think such arrangements are the product of what they call “good corporate citizenship,” critics are uncomfortable with the idea of a privately paid “Facebook Cop.”

“I find this particularly concerning,” said Alessandro De Giorgi, a justice studies professor atSan Jose State University.

Giorgi worries about the ramifications of a private company paying for a historically publicly paid police officer. And in his opinion, any money should go to fund education, not police officers whose job it is to arrest people – especially students – and put them in jail or juvenile hall.

The potential for the conflict of interest, if Facebook asks for an expansion or a waiver of a parking ticket” is certainly there.

“I don’t think there is anything ethically wrong with it,” said Terry Francke, general counsel for Californians Aware, a nonprofit group that aims to keep governments accountable. “But I don’t think it’s good government. The notion is that government services are paid for by everyone. This comes awfully close to naming rights. So, what will things be called now, ‘Google City Hall?’ “

This particular police officer  would earn an annual salary of $108,000 plus perks and be tasked to help out school campuses and large businesses in planning security measures. The officer would also gather intelligence on gangs, taggers and drugs and run fire and earthquake drills for schools and surrounding businesses, according to the recommendation written by Menlo Park Police Commander Dave Bertini. The plan is to find the position for three years before reevaluating.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Facebook-1st-in-US-to-Pay-for-Fulltime-Beat-Cop-248429631.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_25252305/facebook-offers-pay-menlo-park-600-000-hire

Edward Snowden: Constitution was being violated on a massive scale”

In a rare public talk via the Web, fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden urged a tech conference audience Monday to help “fix” the U.S. government’s surveillance of its citizens.

“I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. And I saw the Constitution was being violated on a massive scale,” he added, to applause from the 3,000 people in the auditorium at the Austin Convention Center. For more click here.

“South by Southwest and the tech community, the people in the room in Austin, they’re the folks who can fix this,” Snowden said earlier. “There’s a political response that needs to occur, but there’s also a tech response that needs to occur.”

“We need public oversight … some way for trusted public figures to advocate for us. We need a watchdog that watches Congress, because if we’re not informed, we can’t consent to these (government) policies.”

Asked about the difference between government surveillance and snooping by private Internet companies, Snowden said he considers government surveillance more insidious because “the government has the ability to deprive you of rights. They can jail you.”

Government owned Amtrak magazine includes Edward Snowden in list of traitors!

For more click here.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/tech/web/edward-snowden-sxsw/
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201403/20140307ATT80674/20140307ATT80674EN.pdf

——–

http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2014/03/facebook-becomes-first-private-company_11.html