Police Chief Clarifies Town Camera Project: 'No Big Brother Here'

Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley addressed concerns about the town's camera project at last Tuesday's Select Board meeting, explaining that the initiative focuses on replacing existing security cameras rather than implementing new public surveillance.

"Clearly it's really been mislabeled," Quigley said. "This is replacing existing cameras at our infrastructure... There's nothing monitoring South Main Street or North Main Street. We just don't do that."

The project, which initially raised eyebrows when described as a "town-wide camera system," primarily targets 10-to-12-year-old security cameras at various town facilities that need updating.

"These are just pure and simple security cameras," Quigley explained. "It's the replacement program and while we were replacing cameras that are old, probably more than, I think they're 10 years old now, at least maybe about 12, some other departments waited and said, 'Hey, it would be great if we had cameras too, just for insurance purposes, for safety purposes.'"

The chief emphasized that camera locations are limited to common areas such as hallways, entranceways, and parking lots. "There's no one watching these things 24/7," he said. "These are just hallways, entranceways and things like that. There's no big brother here."

While acknowledging the value of security cameras in law enforcement - "the cop in me likes these things. It makes our job easier" - Quigley expressed personal reservations about expanded surveillance. "Personally, I'm against it as a police officer... I don't like surveillance. It's a great tool, but used for the wrong purposes, it can really, really get out of hand and I wouldn't want to see that."

The chief pointed to a recent incident where existing security footage proved valuable: "Look back to the RTF fire. We don't have a cause, but we have an origin because we had cameras."

Select Board Chair Ellen Maher suggested dropping the "town-wide camera system" terminology, recommending it be referred to as "security camera replacement" to better reflect the project's actual scope.

The clarification comes as various town departments have expressed interest in adding security cameras to their facilities, prompting the Select Board to seek a clearer understanding of the project's scope and purpose.